After the Fall
by SpenName
Summary: Takes place after the events of Fall of Cybertron. The Autobots have made their way through the space bridge. However, they have reached the wrong destination and not everyone is accounted for. Spoilers for Fall of Cybertron. Set so that WFC and FOC are their own continuity rather than being a part of the aligned continuity.
1. Nobody Blinked

Cybertron, the home world of the Transformers, a glimmering silver orb hanging in the sky among the stars, crisp blue lights shone from its crevices as moon sized skyscrapers peeked from the planet's depths. The galaxy marveled it with awe. However, on one very average day, a war broke out on the planet's surface between two factions, the Autobots, and the Decepticons. An entire year passed and out of all the nations in the galaxy, nobody blinked.

Decades passed and everything went to hell. Cybertron's once silver plating had turned a sickening black from rust, its molten skyscrapers now toppled and a new musty orange light replaced its pure blue while a large chunk of the Cybertron itself could be seen slowly floating away from its source. With the planet's core shut down, Cybertron's veins ran dry; its life giving properties ceased to function forcing its inhabitants to find another means of survival.

The solution turned out to be rather simple, leave the planet, and find a new home.  
Nearly thousands of miles away from Cybertron's surface were the last of its inhabitants. The Ark, a massive spaceship made to carry the rest of the Autobot army through the spacebridge portal, they hoped to leave the war and find peace, however when it came to war for the Autobots, for some odd reason, the enemy always seemed to have the bigger guns. The Nemesis, a warship nearly ten times the size of the Ark had intercepted them, a slaughter broke out. This is where we are now.

A Decepticon drop ship was shot down, its crew scrambling around within, grabbing at whatever equipment they could to save themselves. The ship crashed into a pillar exploding on impact. In the middle of the Ark's port stood the defense Hub, am armored base of operations atop of the ship. Armed to the teeth with gun emplacements and heavy turrets, the hub almost begged to be a target for the Decepticons.

'That last blast took a toll on Optimus, you want to help? The time is now!'

Ironhide slammed the speaker back down and attached himself back onto the turret.  
The barrel peeked through a small window near the top of the hub as other turrets were manned symmetrically along the sides of the hub. Ironhide was a veteran, an Autobot who had fought in smaller wars before this one, the red and black bot had the scars to prove it. But despite every scar, every medal he had earned fighting in those lesser wars, none of them had prepared him for this battle, this slaughter.

The old Autobot's flaky hands trembled, he hated this feeling, it was a feeling he hadn't had in ages. He was scared. With a pull of the trigger he resumed mowing down Decepticons from the left side of the hub to the right.  
It still wasn't enough; the Decepticons scavenged themselves up and continued to unload their weapons on the hub, each blast creating a bigger dent in its armored plating.

'Perceptor!' he called 'The Decepticons are about to burst through the hub's walls, we need to find a new way to flush them out!'

Among the Autobots scurrying around the hub trying to find a frag grenade or a rifle to hold off a Decepticon with, a meek red Autobot scientist was manually working some of the Arks Guns from a computer terminal across the room. His fingers moving as quickly as his processor burned the information that was sent through.

'My apologies Ironhide,' said the scientist calmly 'but I'm afraid that leaving our current position to fight heavily armed Decepticons at this point in time would be considered "suicide"'

Perceptor turned his head and spotted a trembling Autobot cough up oil. The Autobot muttered a pass phrase under his breath and in mere moments, his entire upper half had self-destructed.  
Perceptor's cold demeanor flickered as he turned back to the computer terminal.

'It barely matters at this point of time' he said grimly

'Why's that?' asked Ironhide who felt he already knew the answer.

'The Ark will not stand much longer given the ongoing attack of the Decepticons; add that to the instability of the portal and the damage it may cause, our probability of survival is under-'

'Incoming!'

A rocket hit Ironhide's turret causing it to explode on impact. Ironhide was thrown back from the explosion, hitting hard on the floor as he landed.

'Never mind Perceptor, I think I got the just of it.' He said weakly

However, all Ironhide could hear was a low muffling sound in his audio receptors as he spoke; the blast appeared to have taken out his hearing.  
The damaged bot tried to get back up but his legs wouldn't allow it. He soon realized that his hearing wasn't the only thing he had lost from the explosion, he lowered his head to face where his legs were and quickly turned away, his legs weren't malfunctioning or even damaged to begin with, they were just gone, torn off from the explosion.

He shut his optics and thought to himself, this can't be how it all ends is it? Lying on the floor of the defense hub, slowly bleeding Energon while deaf, paralyzed, and surrounded by dead people? That is not how his last moments were supposed to be. He opened his optics and turned to where Perceptor was. Perceptor was nowhere to be seen, figures. The terminal the scientist was working on was crumpled up with a fountain of sparks pouring out of the monitor like a waterfall of light. He scanned the room for the scientist only to learn that he wasn't the only one gone. The Autobot's that were just moment ago running around the Hub or mounting turrets, were now either lying dead on the ground, or missing from their posts, mostly the former.

How long were his optics shut for? He could still hear some low rumbles in what was left of his crumpled audio receptors and concluded that the battle was still ongoing. As he crawled to the nearest surveillance monitor, he began to wonder how many of them were still alive, Perceptor, Warpath, Bumblebee, Optimus… he began to feel the lack of Energon affect his processor. He reached the monitor and booted up system. Several images popped up on the screen that Ironhide has only then realized was riddled with cracks. He was right, the battle was still ongoing, Autobots and Decepticons from all different sub groups and commando units were in forms of combat from snipers blowing off the heads of others to the brutes that tore apart the little ones with swords and hammers. Ironhide recognized some of the Autobots –both dead and alive- on the monitor, he thought of each one of them fondly.

That young one, Tune-up, Tulip, he couldn't remember the name, used him as an inspiration to fight with his fists. Now he's dead. That one got in a fight with him at Maccadam's before the war, dead. That one bot used to make great jokes to lighten the mood and Oh! Now Tulip's fist is being forced down his throat. Among the Autobots and Decepticons on the monitor being shot, stabbed and blown apart, he spotted Optimus. He was at the far end of the ship, right above where the rear thrusters were. The flaming wreckage of a Decepticon drop ship was mere meters away, its fumes bellowing from its source and drifting off at Cybertron.

The Autobot leader was on his knees, standing above him was Megatron, mocking him with his mere presence alone. That brief moment, all of Ironhide's motivation was drained away, he tried looking away but his head wouldn't budge. He stared at the screen as the light it produced reflected off his face, while Megatron wandered over to the crashed wreckage and unhooked a nucleon shock cannon.

Ironhide's optic caught movement in the corner of the screen; he squinted to see a small yellow Autobot steadily crawling towards Optimus.

Ironhide couldn't mistake the bot for anyone else, it was Bumblebee.

_What does that kid think he' doing?_ Ironhide thought to himself as the mini bot's figure slowly moved across the screen.

Megatron bared his canines as he aimed the shock cannon at Prime's helm, Ironhide couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the look on Megatron's face he could tell that the Decepticon leader was happy about it. Prime stared down the barrel of the cannon with the same confident expression he had always used; he was ready to accept his fate.

Just as Megatron pulled the trigger, Bumblebee had put all his energy into his leg servos and leaped in front of Optimus, the nucleon blast struck Bumblebee's chest tearing a deep dark hole into his spark casing. The yellow bot fell to the charred metal ground, sparks dancing around his chest wound, his body moving in a spasm from the energy of the blast before finally settling down. Following it all, Bumblebee's optics dimmed from a flickering blue to a murky grey.

'No!" Ironhide shouted. He still couldn't hear himself, hell he couldn't even feel himself, the only thing he could feel was his life force slowly slipping away

'No…'

Ironhide accepted it and his optics darkened

_Optimus will be next_, those were his last thoughts before shutting down.

Optimus screamed Bumblebee's name, his vocalizer cracking from the shock. He held the collapsed bot and felt for a life sign. With a quick, painful realization, he learned that Bumblebee was no more. Optimus had learned to mourn soldiers long before the war began, he learned to mourn for Prime's, those who lost too much, and even the enemy at times, but this was the first time he would have to mourn a friend. This was far different from anything else he had experienced in this war; it was by far the worst.

'What a waste of Energon' snarled Megatron as he threw the overloaded shock cannon to the ground.

Prime's mind became flooded with memories of the young scout. Back when they first met during the attack on Iacon, the battle with Trypticon, he remembered Bumblebee's enthusiasm and when it was taken away when Megatron ripped out his voice box. All that was left of the little yellow Autobot was a burnt corpse and an extinguished spark. Optimus did not know why but for once he didn't feel sorrow, he felt something else, something he never truly felt before, something he never wanted to feel before, he knew of it too well though, and he knew only too many words for it.  
Anger, Rage, Bloodlust- the urge to rip Megatron's throat out, he finally knew it, he finally understood.

'After eons of conflict, I finally see truth in your words Megatron.'

Megatron casually approached the Autobot leader while unsheathing an Energon blade.

'And what might that be, Optimus?'

Uncaring for an answer, Megatron brought the sword down only for it to be caught by Optimus, the blade cutting wounds into the palm of the Prime's hand.

'That this Universe, no matter how vast, will never be big enough for you and I to coexist!'

Optimus punched Megatron in the gut sending the Decepticon flying onto the higher decks. Megatron managed to dodge just in time as Optimus leapt at him with his own blade, Cybertron's blazing core shining behind his silhouette.  
The two bots clashed like they have done many times in the past, only this time was different, with every stab, every punch every gunshot that was made,_ both_ leaders felt their rage growing stronger and stronger.

After one last stab at Megatron, the portal began to tear the Ark apart; all of their work as well as their future were being taken away from them in one long grab and pull. As Optimus was sucked through the portal, there was only one thing on his mind, something Megatron said.

"This is what you chose Prime when you defied me, all of this is your doing" Megatron was right.

* * *

Ironhide's optics sprang open. He immediately sat up and observed his surroundings; he was in the Ark's medical bay. The damage had taken its toll on the place, the lighting in the room was dim and piles of debris littered every corner. He soon realized he wasn't the only injured bot in the room, several other wounded Autobots were lying on recharge slabs, to Ironhide most of them didn't look like they were going to make it.

Hound appeared to be hooked up to a sort of life support machine while Scattershot had a hole in his chest exposing several wires and bolts, Arcee was in the center in the room with her helmet split open. It appeared that either Ratchet or First Aid was doing some sort of surgery on her earlier. He sat up and stared at his lap, his legs had been reattached, but what happened after he went in to stasis?

The memories of what happened to Bumblebee came back to him with a flash. Ironhide moaned and brought a hand to his face, the poor kid didn't deserve it, he was the one that should have been out there protecting Prime, not the kid, it was his job as his bodyguard after all, not a scout's.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

'It's about time you woke up old timer.'

Ironhide recognized the bellowing voice immediately and a smile crept upon his face.

'Warpath, don't you have anything better to do than watch a bot while he naps?'

Leaning in the doorway, with his arms crossed stood a bulky red Autobot with a blue visor, a red faceplate, and a case of tank turret syndrome.

'Heh, what can I say, I wanted to make sure you were still online, after all an old man like you is bound to die at any moment.'

Ironhide tried to stand but teetered before catching his balance. He was glad he didn't fall otherwise he wouldn't hear the last of it from Warpath.

'Hah I knew I would survive in the end.' he lied.

'Besides you aren't all shiny an' new yourself either' he said motioning at Warpath's torso.

Warpath looked down at his body, his cannon was missing. It had been ripped out by a Decepticon while he was in tank mode (what's worse is that the Bastard got away with it). His visor was cracked and his arms had several cuts in them leaking tiny drops of Energon.

'You think this is bad?' He replied looking back up again 'Some of the guys who survived are barely recognizable anymore'  
Ironhide's expression lowered

'So how many of the "guys" are still functional' he asked unsure if he wanted to know the answer or not.

Warpath let out a sigh and sat down on a nearby bench.

'Less than a hundred of us are still alive, fewer are up and about. Perceptor is still okay just to let you know, he said he bailed on you and wanted to apologize, he's been up the past couple of nights working on finding our location on the map though so I wouldn't hold it against him.'

Ironhide was surprised that he hadn't consider it before.

'Warpath where are we?'

Warpath looked confused

'We are eh… in the med bay, maybe you need some more rest after a-'

'No not that, I mean did we win the battle? Did we make it to our destination? …Is the Ark functional?'

Warpath scratched the side of his head 'Er, maybe you should ask Perceptor, I'm not too good at explaining the…stuff'

'Then what are we waiting for? Let's go see him.'  
Ironhide stumbled as he walked forward catching the side of his repair bay for support.

'Easy now' said Warpath as he helped Ironhide back up.

Ironhide gently pushed him away before regaining his balance.

'I'm fine, let's just go'

The two of them transformed to vehicle modes, Ironhide in his old beat up truck mode that he had used since before the war had begun, and Warpath, a barrel-less tank that lacked its signature deafening cannon. For Ironhide conversion was terribly painful but compared to what he experienced in the previous battle, this was nothing. Despite his wounds Warpath didn't even let out a grunt. The two of them proceeded to speed down the viscera stained corridors of the Ark's halls, passing by broken off limbs and thrown data pads as they did so.

'Warpath, back on topic- besides you me and Perceptor, who else made it? I didn't see Ratchet in there, is he..?'

'Ratchet's fine, thank Primus for that. Without him I don't think many of us would still be around, the reason you didn't see him is because- well-'

Warpath slowed himself as he tried to form the words

'After what happened to Bumblebee- He was killed by Megatron. I'm sorry Ironhide; Jazz went to gather his body inside before the portal tore up the Ark, but the portal… it sucked what was left of the little guy away.'

'I know Warpath, I saw what happened'

He didn't want to ask about Optimus knowing that if he wasn't killed by Megatron he would have greeted him by now. Deep inside he knew that he just didn't want to hear it.

'I'm gonna miss the little squirt Ironhide'

'Same here Warpath… Same here'

* * *

_Cybertron: Shockwave's lair_

Starscream woke up under a pile of metal; everything was a blur and his head felt as though it were pounded by one of Rumble's pile drivers. He picked himself up and gathered his thoughts. One moment he was trying to make a deal with the leader of the Lightning strike Coalition, next thing he knew he was thrown across the room and forced to undergo stasis lock.  
He scanned the room, charging his rifle in the process. Grimlock was nowhere to be seen.

He cursed under his breath. _How am I supposed to gather my army when my first employee runs off?_

Starscream transformed into his sleek red and white jet mode and flew out of the purple cylindrical room into the bright city of Kaon. From above, Starscream could see the thousands of street lamps lighting the city up as if it were a nebula.  
As he flew around the tall purple and green lit skyscrapers, he came to realize that he was the only one in the city, besides him the place was completely devoid of life. He felt a wave of uneasiness as he saw that not a single living Decepticon patrolled the skies or drove around on the streets. Were they all fighting on Megatron's behalf? Or did the Autobots wipe them all out while he was in stasis. No, he couldn't have been out that long, but something strange was happening and he intended to find out what. Wherever he flew, the more fear had overcome him.

He began to think aloud as the questions flooded his mind.

'What if I'm the only one left?'

'What if Megatron chased after Shockwave's stupid idea of visiting other worlds to drain them of Energon?'

'… What if Megatron took everyone else with him? That would mean I would be left alone, and with no Energon for myself…'  
Starscream's scanner began to beep,

'Finally a life signal'

His GPS showed a red dot a few kliks away from his position.  
There was someone else still here; he didn't care if it was Megatron or Optimus Prime. All he wanted was to find someone who may be able to help him, just so that he wasn't alone. But then again, whoever they are, they should have enough Energon to last him a little longer to live. As he flew closer to his destination, he noticed that the signal was coming from Shockwave's old power tower, or what's left of it. The base of the tower was gone and the energy that surrounded it was gone with it. Did this mean Megatron was still somewhere on the planet? Or was this a part of Shockwaves plan to leave him here to die.

His thought was interrupted as he located a second energy reading. The second red dot on his GPS was speeding right towards his position on the map. It was heading straight for him.

* * *

'Hah, he flew right over us, what an idiot'

Swoop chuckled to himself while he sat on a piece of debris within the deep trench, the other two Dinobots sat adjacent to him

'Quiet Swoop, he can't seem to track our life signals, but that doesn't mean he can't hear us' said an angry Slug.

'Oh come on, you got to admit seeing that weirdo freak-out gives a sort of satisfaction no?'

Slug rubbed his optic lenses

'We are stranded on a dying planet with no Energon and more importantly, no friends, if this isn't the time to be solemn then I don't know what is' said the Tricera-bot gruffly  
The Stego-bot, Snarl stepped up to speak, something he was never good at.

'Slug is right; Grimlock gave his life for us, we need to-'

'Us?' interrupted Slug who stood up and jabbed a finger at Snarl's face

'He deserted us! All he wanted was to keep the Autobots from leaving so that we could all die fighting the Decepticons in what he calls an "honourable and glorious way"' He sat down and rested his head in his hands.

'If he was smart he would have stayed here with us, then we could have had Prime pick us up and be up on the Ark in no time!'

Snarl remained silent, not knowing how to respond.

'Aw lay off the kid would yah Slug? He was just trying to defend you is all'

'Shut up Swoop.' Slug leaned in 'it's about time we begin the operation as planned.'


	2. Fits and Fists

Perceptor sat in his chair with one leg over the other. He was tapping his finger against the arm of the chair while rolling a laser pen around his knuckles. Two obvious signs of impatience, Jetfire insisted they wait for Ironhide before going over the current situation given his large role in Autobot High command, but the impatient scientist couldn't find it any more than completely unnecessary, bots like Ironhide were forged for their strength and their bravado, not for their intelligence or their "calm" disposition. He scanned he conference room for the seventeenth time that hour, the round table was trashed and the chairs had been flung across the room.

_Pity no one has bothered to fix it,_ he thought.

The room was a cylindrical shape with enough space to fit over a dozen bots. High command would have originally sat at the Round table in the center of the room during meetings to discuss plans with one another (Of course in the end, Prime would have been the one to make the ultimate decision). Higher ups that weren't in stasis, med bay, or dead, were standing in the room doing their own business as Perceptor sat and observed, they were either talking to one another or daydreaming.

From left to right across the room stood, Cliffjumper and Jazz; who were going on about something involving scatter blasters and nucleon rifles, Silverbolt; who was leaning against a wall and staring at the floor as if he were in a trance. Jetfire stood in the middle of the room reading a data pad while Sideswipe stood next to him seemingly trying to grab his attention. Ratchet was absent of course due to his current emotional status after the death of Bumblebee; however it was apparent that Jetfire was willing to let that one slip.

Ironhide walked into the room stiffly and made a beeline for Perceptor as Warpath followed close behind.

Perceptor stood up, smiled and walked towards Ironhide whilst offering a handshake.

'Nice to see you are still functional Ironhide! I hope you didn't happen to need any hel-'

Before He could finish his sentence, Ironhide's fist slammed into the scientist's face.

* * *

_Cybertron: Kaon_

'OW!'

Starscream screamed as the large flaming object clipped the seeker's wing.

The second energy signature had somehow snuck up on him, Starscream had only heard a low rumble emitting behind him before the massive object had clipped him.

Whatever it was, it was bigger than he would have expected. After losing a chunk of his wing, Starscream began to slowly but surely spin out control. The ground grew closer and closer to him as he tried to maintain balance in his circuits.

'Scrap, Scrap, Scrap' he cursed as he fell closer and closer to the smooth metallic ground below.

He transformed into his robot mode and landed face first into an empty street, some of the metal from the street itself had shoved itself into the back of his mouth as his body dragged across the street. He coughed the metal back up and held his head in his hand. Starscream slowly got back up on his feet and turned in the direction of the energy signature.

He growled angrily before opening his mouth wide. 'Who dares attack Starscream!' his vocalizer shrieked

He looked into the distance and spotted what hit him; it appeared to be a large flaming object not unlike a meteor.

_A meteor landing on Cybertron_ he thought, _far too unlikely._

Besides, who had ever heard of a meteor that carried a Cybertronian energy signature?

The object smashed itself into the ground about a kilometer away from him creating a large crater where it landed, Starscream was far enough so that he wouldn't tumble into the crater, but the blast itself produced enough chunks of metal and debris – as well as the force of the explosion – that was enough to send the seeker flying, and not in the way he usually preferred.  
After smashing through a rundown skyscraper, Starscream landed in a pile of rubble consisting of crashed drop ships and peeled metal.

He pulled himself out of the rubble and thought about how this day couldn't get any worse, the seeker slapped himself on the head upon realising how he may have just jinxed himself and activated his scanners; in the crater was the second energy signature.

_Best not go back there;_ he thought _who knows what I might find.  
_

He tapped at his wrist and searched the co-ordinates for the first energy signature as originally planned.

_Finally some good news_ he thought as a smile crept onto his faceplate

The signal was coming from just around the corner, behind the skyscraper he had smashed through.

* * *

_The Ark_

'Ironhide what the frag are you doing?!'

'Stay out of this Jetfire, this wise guy left me out there to die!'

Teeth gritted and optics blazed as Ironhide slugged Perceptor across the face for a second time. Warpath and Jazz pulled the two away from each other while making sure not to get hit by either one of Ironhide's famous fists.

'This is rather uncalled for considering your current condition  
Ironhide.' Snapped Perceptor

'Well my condition wasn't so fine back in the Command Hub, you know the Command Hub? Where you abandoned me? Is that what you do Perceptor? Do you just run away whenever an Autobot is in need of help as they lay dying?'

Perceptor flared his nostrils and tried to take a step forward only for Jazz to hold him back.

'I did not "run-away", I left to reactivate the Ark's over-shields. Without them I doubt we would have made it through the portal at all.' he argued

'What he says is true Ironhide' said Jetfire in a calming tone 'If anything, you owe him your life after what he did'

Ironhide grunted as he shoved Warpath aside

'Now if you would excuse me' said Perceptor as he bent over to wipe the dust off of his legs.

'I believe that only top ranked personnel are allowed in this room' he cocked his head up and pointed a finger at Warpath

'What? What makes you all so special?' argued Warpath anxiously

Ironhide hated having to agree with Perceptor, especially after what had just happened, but he was still a follower of the Autobot code.

'You better listen to what he says kid, don't want ya yelling while the grownups talk.'

'Come on guys' argued Jazz 'Cliffjumper's here and he isn't considered "top ranked personnel", I don't see why Warpath can't stay for the meeting either.'

Perceptor clapped his hands together in realization 'Ah yes of course, what was I thinking?' Perceptor signalled the two bots to the door with his hands 'Both of you. Out. Now.'

'Hey!' Cliffjumper balled his fists as he marched stiffly to the scientist that was nearly twice the size of him.

'I've been in more action than you ever have and –most likely- ever will be Percy; I think I deserve a little respect.'

Jetfire raised a hand in assurance 'this isn't about you Cliffjumper, this is just about the chain of command-'

'Enough!'

Everyone spun their heads around to face Warpath. 'I get it, you all want me out of here because I'm not a vet or-or a tech head. I get  
it. I'm done. I'm gone.'

Warpath stomped out of the room and slammed the door shut behind him while the others stood there silent. They all just stared at the door unsure how to react.

Jetfire, frustrated, brought the palm of his hand to his helm trying to think of what to do next.

'Perceptor, why don't we get this started?' he asked while faking a smile.

Perceptor cleared his throat and tapped at some Holo-keys on his arm. Light turquoise holograms illuminated the room consisting of a galaxy map, as well as several written notes and equations Perceptor had made beforehand.

'As you can see…' he began

'Due to the Space bridge malfunction caused by the _Lightning Strike Coalition Force Leader_, designation; _Grimlock_, we have teleported to the wrong destination, it is explainable if we are to theorize that the pulse generators in the Ark matched the same vibrations which the Space Bridge produced, we can use the…'

'Get to the point Perceptor' ordered an agitated Sideswipe

Perceptor mouthed an "Ok" and skipped through his notes

'Teletraan has been able to locate and scan the world upon crash, interestingly enough the world is filled with organic materials consisting mainly of plant life'

Jetfire gave Perceptor a look to stop rambling and to get back on track causing the scientist to throw his arms into the air in frustration.

'Anyways… when Teletraan finished its scanning it returned with  
some… interesting finds.'

'What did it find?' asked Jazz

Perceptor began moving the holograms with his fingertips, enlarging on the image of the planet and zooming into the planets crust, revealing a familiar energy reading

'The Planet appears to be seeded with Energon; apparently our target planet wasn't the only one that held the energy to sustain us, or our prisoners'

'Prisoners?' Ironhide asked with a concerned look 'What do you mean by prisoners?'

'Did Warpath not mention?' asked Jetfire

'Mention what? I don't get it.'

'We got the whole Decepticon ground force locked up in the Basement' said Sideswipe who was happily spinning a ring of keys on his index finger.

'What?!'

Sideswipe smirked and placed the keys onto his belt while clasping  
his hands together 'When the Ark Crashed we had the Decepticon forces at our mercy, turns out without their big bad spaceship they aren't as tough.'

Ironhide looked as though he were going to blow 'And we're just leaving them down there?!'

'Don't worry Ironhide; they are in maximum security' assured Jetfire 'all of them have been tied up with laser shackles, even the Cassetticons'

'But what if-'

'It's _maximum security_' Jetfire repeated himself thoroughly.

Ironhide still didn't like the sound of it, but he knew he wouldn't have a say in it even if he pleaded

'Well then this is great' exclaimed Cliffjumper trying to brighten the situation

'And why would you say that?' asked Perceptor plainly.

'Don't you see? We've won! We got pretty much every Decepticon in our hands, we landed on a planet that has Energon, and Ironhide has only punched ONE person today. What could be better?'

Jetfire and Perceptor exchanged some nervous glances before looking back.

Cliffjumper's expression lowered

'…there's a catch isn't there.'

Perceptor rubbed the back of his neck  
'I'm afraid that the Energon on this planet is different from our own. While our Energon is consumed only by that of Cybertronian design, this Energon is consumed by the plant life, and is then apparently consumed by the wild life and so on. It is unknown if we would even be able to use it for ourselves, let alone process it to repair the Ark. Jazz, Jetfire and I have planned a scouting mission to examine the planet but besides that we are _stuck_ so to speak'

Cliffjumper crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side.

'Oh so what you mean is…'

'What he means is' interrupted Sideswipe 'We are on some random  
planet in the corner of the map, more than half of the crew is dead, we got an army of Decepticons locked up beneath us, the Ark is trashed, we have no Energon and we don't even know where Optimus is.'

Primes name immediately caught Ironhide's attention

'What was that?'

'Oh, yeah sorry big guy' Sideswipe wore an goofy grin as he scratched the back of his head 'I hate to sound like Huffer but-'

Ironhide waved a hand in denial 'No not that!' he shook his head and held out his arms for confirmation.

'You said we don't know where Prime is, meaning… we don't have a body?'

'Well no but-'

'I believe it was Blades.' said a nodding Jetfire, '…who reported that Optimus was sucked through the portal intact.' 'But even then we aren't certain if he survived to make it to the other side or not.'

'Are you telling me we are just giving up on him?'

Jazz put a warm hand on Ironhide's shoulder  
'It's not that Hide; we all care about Prime…'

Ironhide jabbed a finger at the ground 'Then why are we sitting on our afts _here_, when we should be out _there_ searching for him Jazz?'

Ironhide pointed at the Hologram as he said _there_. 'He's probably on the planet somewhere, heck he couldn't have landed far…'

'Ironhide…' Perceptor spoke with a more comforting tone 'I don't believe space bridge technology works like that. The Decepticon's ship isn't even in the planet's atmosphere meaning- Well this has lead us to believe Prime, -as well as Megatron and his ship- could be anywhere in the galaxy right now.'

'I can't believe this!' Ironhide's optics darted across the room for a sign of agreement. 'Silverbolt, you've got to have a say in this don't you?'

Silverbolt shrugged without looking up.

Ironhide was furious. Something had to done, they had to at least _try_ to find him.

'I've had enough of this crap.' Ironhide waved his hand in the air and stormed towards the door.

'Ironhide wait!' Jetfire called but the door shut before he could hear him.

The room was silent up until Perceptor coughed

'Well I assume that concludes the meeting' the scientist announced with a nod.

Not a good first meeting in Jetfire's book, he wanted to get his mind off of it and get on with the mission, but first…

'Sideswipe, could you go check on the prisoners, Air raid's shift ended 15 minutes ago'

Sideswipe shaped his fingers like guns and aimed them at Jetfire

'Will do'

Jetfire turned to Perceptor

'Are you prepared to begin the mission?' asked Perceptor

'Of course, I have already selected a team to investigate on the ground while Silverbolt and I watch from the air'

'Ah excellent, I will be monitoring your progress through a clutch drone while you work'

'Understood'

Jetfire began typing a message in his discussion of what had been said in the meeting, only perhaps without all the fits and fists. The message would be sent to every Autobot on board, just to clear things up without having to stand up in front of them. Perhaps he should address the disappearance of Optimus Prime, or maybe it would be for the better that he didn't. He _did_ however promise that a funeral will be made for those who were now "one with the Matrix." _That sounds good enough_, he thought.

'So how does it feel?'

Jetfire looked down to spot Cliffjumper grinning at him

'Excuse me?'

'How does it feel to be leader for a change?'

Jetfire groaned 'I'm not the leader Cliffjumper, never was. Now go gear up, we will be rolling out in 5,'

Cliffjumper walked away while waggling a finger in a taunting manner. 'Whatever you say boss'

Jetfire was no leader, he had the highest rank next to Perceptor, but he knew that he couldn't just pick up where Optimus left off, besides there was already someone to pick up in case Prime died, and that bot was long gone from Cybertron for decades.

Jazz shook Silverbolt by the shoulder 'You okay Bolt? We're rolling out soon enough or well in your case…'

Silverbolt looked up with barely a care.

'I'm fine Jazz. Just… fine, Thanks'

'If you say so…'

* * *

In the hallway, Warpath was scratching an Autobot symbol into the side of the wall with his knife when Ironhide passed by, he had his jaws clenched together and his fingers digging into his palms, Warpath could see his body expanding and retracting as the older bot breathed heavily in and out of his nostrils.

'Ironhide wait up.' He called however Ironhide made no response.

He called again 'Ironhide!' The red bot stopped and held himself into place, he spoke in a grim voice without looking back.

'What do you want kid?'

Warpath took a moment to lower his voice so that he wouldn't anger the animalistic bot any further 'What happened in there? You look like you just beat the crap out of Cliffjumper… oh-oh god please tell me you didn't.'

'I didn't.' Ironhide slowly began to raise his voice 'it just seems like I'm the only one that cares about the wellbeing of Optimus around here!'

Warpath could have easily guessed what was going to come next

'Well, what are you gonna do about it?'

'I'm going to go look for him of course'

Ironhide turned around.  
'You're coming with me aren't you?'

Warpath stared at him in shock, he never thought he would be asked to ditch the Autobots, and especially not by Ironhide of all bots.

'C'mon you said it yourself, they don't want ya here because you're just a soldier' Ironhide said with a grin

'Oh that… I was just a little angry since I lost my cannon is all'  
Warpath laughed nervously, Ironhide could see right through Warpath and shrugged

'Suit yourself'

As Ironhide transformed to truck mode, Warpath thought to himself. What if Prime is out there? What if having Prime around again would change things for the better? The Autobots were nothing without him, and that last meeting confirmed it, maybe Optimus was exactly what the Autobots needed. He realized that if he stayed where he was, he would just blend in with the crowd and be another generic. This was his time to be something more than just another soldier; this was his chance to make a change, worth a shot right?

'Hey Ironhide wait up!'

* * *

_Meanwhile outside the planets solar system_

The Nemesis: Bridge

Thundercracker's optics were shut, his hand against his forehead as he tried to drain out the sound of the two seekers arguing.

'What are you talking about?' yelled a frustrated Skywarp, 'We still have the Energon, we can launch some search parties, find them, there is no way we are all that's left'

Dirge frowned at him with his arms crossed.

'You saw what the spacebridge did to their ship; no one could have survived that'

Skywarp began to panic,  
'But-But Megatron, Soundwave, Rumble, and-and the Combaticons, everyone … they couldn't have just _DIED!_'

Dirge turned his head and scoffed 'All that matters to me is that we're alive, the Autobots aren't, end of story'

Skywarp stared at his hands, he couldn't believe what he was hearing; he never envisioned the end of the war like this, not with every ground based Decepticon dead leaving the air force all on their own. He imagined Megatron standing at Nova point, giving some sort of speech, and then… then… hold on… then what?

'In that case… what happens now?' he asked quietly and calmly

Dirge paused to think about it and rubbed his chin.

Thundercracker had to admit, he was surprised that Skywarp didn't talk on and on like the idiot he was. For the first time in his life, it appeared Skywarp had asked a valid question.

'I guess we should decide who the leader is now that Megatron is gone' replied Dirge

Thundercracker looked up at them; there was a long silence on the bridge. He looked back down below to see several other aerial Decepticons; they all had only just started to listen when leadership was brought up. Thundercracker was disgusted.

'Okay…' said Skywarp 'Who has the highest rank then?'  
As the black seeker turned his head from Thundercracker to Dirge for an answer, the blue and yellow cone headed seeker continuously opened his mouth to speak but closed it and stroked his chin to think.

Thundercracker knew what Dirge said was potentially a bad idea, over half of the Decepticons wanted to be leader one way or the other, saying this at the bridge surrounded by tens of other Cons, was a probable riot waiting to happen. As for who had the highest rank; with Megatron dead it would be Starscream, but with Starscream on the run, next highest would be Shockwave… except he was presumed dead after the spacebridge overloaded, Soundwave is considered dead as well, someone on board would have to take command. The Target masters (minus Quake) could never lead; to him they were all delusional one way or the other, especially Cyclonus with his constant rambling. Considering they were the only other team with flight able combatants. The next highest in the chain of command would be..

'Us!'

Skywarp and Dirge focused their attention on Thundercracker

'What?' Skywarp looked at Thundercracker with a half smile.

'The Seekers, us, we have the highest rank of the Decepticons'

Skywarp flinched, then nodded  
'Alright so who has the highest rank in the seekers' he asked

Thundercracker froze.

'Starscream' answered Dirge 'But he's not here right now so next in  
command would be… who?'

'Well technically there never was a second in command for the seekers' replied Thundercracker 'we never really got around to it since the Combaticons kind of…'

'Took the spotlight and left us as cannon fodder?' asked Skywarp

'More or less' shrugged Thundercracker

Skywarp let out a sigh and placed a hand over his optic ridge

'I'll be honest; I don't really want to be a leader. You want to lead Dirge?'

Dirge thought about it for a moment before answering, all he wanted was to put fear into the sparks of every Autobot, being the leader would surely help with the whole fear thing… but now that "every  
Autobot" was gone, it seemed like being a leader would just be liability after liability.

'Nah, not my thing'

Thundercracker shrugged

'Well if none of us want to lead then what do we do?'

'Now that I think about it I really don't see the point' replied Dirge. 'I mean what are we going to do?' he stuck his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the groups of Decepticons behind him 'Lead these guys to war with turbofoxs?'

'We still need to find a way back home' reminded Thundercracker 'or wherever we should be at least, we still need someone to take charge for at least a little while until we make our destination'

'Well we could lead them together' proposed Skywarp 'The four of us I mean'

'Four?' asked Dirge as he began counting heads

'Yeah Ramjet is still around right?'

Dirge shook his head 'Nah I saw the Autobots capture him before they all blew up'

'He got captured?' asked a shocked Thundercracker 'How the hell was he captured, he was a seeker, why didn't he fly back to the Nemesis with us?'

'He tried "Ramming a truck"' said Dirge casually 'Should've stayed doing what he was born to do instead…'

'Barrel rolling like a jet instead of Ramming like a Truck?' asked Skywarp

Dirge shook his head  
'Ramming Jets instead of trucks'

'…'

Thundercracker slapped himself in the face. He suddenly missed having Starscream call them" fools" at times like this

At that moment, a slim figure entered the bridge

'Well, well look at this, the old gang is back together… almost'

The three seekers recognized the figure immediately; their mouths wide open as the figure stepped closer to the trio.

'Oh hell what are you doing here?'

* * *

_Ark's Prison Block_

Deep within the Arks prison block, stacks of prison cells covered the walls making the once football field sized room into nothing more than a narrow hallway, Decepticons spat, spewed insults and screamed for attention, some whimpered and some were still just waking up from stasis, among those waking up from stasis, was the Decepticon communications officer Soundwave, tied to the wall of his cell by laser clamps…


	3. Banging Your Head

**AN: This chapter is where things get a little dark, I wouldn't recommend reading it if you aren't okay with certain amounts of violence.**

* * *

Optic lenses struggled to open as crusted oil glued them shut. Peeling them open Soundwave would groggily stretch his stiffened neck and crane his head from one side of the cell to the other.

In an instant Soundwave managed to assess the situation calmly and professionally; he was chained to the wall of his cell with a laser harness. That was obvious enough; it appeared there were other cells in the hallway as well, with each one holding a Decepticon each. He recalled the last orders given by Megatron near the end of the Ark assault, _"All Decepticons attack the Ark, anyone found hiding on the Nemesis will be executed immediately!"_, Soon after he received those orders, Soundwave was shot in the back by the Autobot designate Scattershot. Of course it was somehow more likely that he was shot by a rampaging Quake or a hyper Misfire instead.

As he turned up his Audio receptors he managed to hear other Decepticons who were giving the Autobot guard a bad time.

'Hey, Hey Autobot, when I get outta here, I'm gonna rip out those pretty wings of yours'

'Oh really…? I'm flattered!' the guard replied sarcastically

A second Autobot entered the hall  
'These guys giving you trouble Air raid?' asked Sideswipe

'Nah, they're all just too jealous of my stellar looks' he said pretending to brush dirt off his shoulder.

Sideswipe grinned smugly 'Sure Air raid, but they're ones to talk; I would absolutely hate to look like some of these guys'

He pointed at the closest cell  
'I mean look at him, who in their right mind would wear a cone for a helmet'  
Air raid squinted at the Decepticon in question and tapped Sideswipe on the shoulder.

'Wait a minute Sideswipe, isn't that Ramjet? You know the one that tried ramming Hotspot during the Ark assault?

Sideswipe brought his head closer and squinted at the black and white seeker hunched over within the cell. He brought his head back up and placed his hands on his hips.

'Hah you're right, hey cone-head, why are you ramming trucks instead of_ ramming jets_ eh? Hahah'

Ramjet slowly tilted his head up and scowled at the red Autobot car.  
'S-Shut your face Autobot' he spat

Air raid took a look at another cell and laughed.  
'Sideswipe, you think he has an odd head, check this guy's head out.'

Sideswipe jogged over and peered into the cell Air Raid had mentioned. Inside the cell was a stubby green Decepticon tied to the wall in a laser harness. The Decepticons body was practically nothing more than a head. He had long bulky arms that were longer than his "body", his legs were stubby and cylindrical and he had two purple planks coming out of his back.

'Ahahahah what the frag are you supposed to be?' Sideswipe taunted while pointing a finger nearly within the bars of the cage.

'The names Dirt Boss pal, remember it cus it's the last thing you're gonna hear when I stick these planks up your-'

'Ah shut up con' said Sideswipe with an unenthusiastic wave.  
Dirtboss gritted his teeth together in rage 'Hey I wasn't finished with you buddy!' Dirt Boss called out, but Sideswipe was already talking with Air raid completely oblivious to the fact.

'Alright I'm heading up; been getting sick of being down here' Air raid spoke while glaring at loud mouthed cons like Breakdown and Motormaster who had no doubt been taunting him for the past hour. 'I might Join up with Jetfire and the others to get some fresh air' Air raid looked over at the vacuum lift. 'That is if they haven't gotten too far ahead already'

'Aww don't you want to listen to these cons "compliments"?' joked Sideswipe.  
Air Raid laughed.

'Listen to these guys for 5 minutes and you will be banging your head against the wall just to drone them out.'

'Hah you wish. My feelings don't get hurt as easily as yours do ya pansy.'

Air Raid laughed again and entered the elevator lift leaving Sideswipe alone with the caged Decepticons.

The red Autobot placed his hands behind his back and walked down the hall, inspecting through each of the cages as if he were giving an examination. The Decepticons barked and spat at him, almost as if he was at a pound filled with caged dogs.  
He stopped at the last cell at the end of the hallway and smiled, it was Soundwave's cell.

'Well, well, look who finally woke up.'

Soundwave remained silent

Sideswipe paced from the left to the right of the cell as he spoke 'We go way back yeah? Back with Zeta Prime and the Prison Break, we totally kicked your aft too, even when you had your little buddies to protect you.'

Soundwave remained silent

The red bot leaned in and cupped his hand around his audio receptor 'What? Too broken hearted to say anything? Or are you just the uncharismatic bore everyone says you are?'

The Decepticons began to roar louder

'Hey you can't talk to Soundwave like that!'

'Yeah no one calls Soundwave unkrasimatic'

'Are you going to take that Soundwave?'

While most Decepticons thought of Soundwave as a creepy boogieman, a suck up, and a nerd, Soundwave had never objected to, or insulted any of them. In fact, whenever they would be in trouble with Megatron, Soundwave would sometimes save their afts by making some sort of excuse or blaming it on Starscream so that Megatron wouldn't kill them for insubordination (Starscream wouldn't have been as thrilled).

Seeing Soundwave being badmouthed got into their processors, their moral codes were screaming at them to make up for all the times Soundwave _didn't_ rat them out.

Soundwave remained silent

'Huh maybe your little birdy will talk for you'

Sideswipe opened a nearby cell and took out a laser bird cage holding Laserbeak within.  
He showed off Laserbeak to Soundwave proudly as if Laserbeak were his prized pet as a way to get a reaction. It didn't work.

'I've got to admit when we were digging in your chest, we were surprised what we found. Among the tapes it turns out you got a freaking senator in there, who would have thought that's where Ratbat's brain module had been this whole time? Another mystery solved.'

Soundwave remained silent

'Ah well, you aren't any fun Soundwave' Sideswipe threw Laserbeak's cage across the hall prompting the cassetticon to squawk in disapproval. Sideswipe began to walk away from the cell to put Laserbeak back in his cell rather than lying on the floor in his bird cage.

'A real shame too, I was looking forward to kicking your aft again'

Soundwave spoke

'All talk… no shock'

The Decepticons cheered for him

'What was that?' Sideswipe asked as he spun himself around. The Autobot made his way back to the communications officer's cell, shocked by Soundwave's tone.

From when Sideswipe first entered the room, Soundwave had been planning how to escape. Now he just had to play with Sideswipes long enough to make the plan effective.

'You heard me Autobot'

Sideswipe cracked his knuckles 'Ah good I was hoping you would speak up so that we could have a little fun'

'First I want to ask you something Autobot'

'And what might that be' asked Sideswipe crossing his arms

'Where's Sunstreaker?'

The cheers from the Decepticons began to slowly change into sounds of confusion

Sideswipe was shocked speechless, his mouth hung open as a twitching feeling emerged in his optic. Soundwave was in full control now; he could read Sideswipe almost thoroughly. Sideswipe stepped towards the cell with a grimace on his face and whispered…

_'How the hell do you know about him?'_

Soundwave was glad that no one could see behind his faceplate; because behind the mask was a wide grin.

'Everyone knows the story, the Decepticon who obliterated an entire Autobot outpost all on his own, and the Autobot who was too busy mingling with femmes to protect his comrades'

Sideswipe scowled, anger had overcome him and was finding it harder and harder to resist grabbing the laser bars on the cell.

Soundwave tilted his head to the side

'_That _Autobot and _that_ Decepticon are both in this room aren't they?'

'You spawn of a glitch, I'll SEND YOU TO THE PITS!'

Sideswipe immediately grabbed a handle next to Soundwave's cell and pulled down, shutting off both the bars and the plasma clamps causing Soundwave to fall to the floor on all fours. An energy blade slid out of Sideswipes wrist as he walked towards Soundwave clouded by rage. He raised the blade; he was prepared to finally avenge his brother, to finally kill the Con who had-

...Soundwave grabbed the blade

With a simple yet quick motion, Soundwave ripped off the red Autobot's arm from its socket and stabbed the Autobot in the chest with his own weapon.  
Sideswipe was too stunned to properly react. He fell back and held onto the small cut, just as he got back up, Soundwave plunged the blade deeper into the wound, cutting through several important organs and wirings. Oil spewed from Sideswipes mouth like a waterfall of tobacco running down his severed arm and chin. His optics were slowly flickering, before losing his vision, the last thing Sideswipe saw was Soundwave's face, the Red visor over the blank faceplate, it was impossible to detect any emotion, but Sideswipe could have sworn he saw a smile.

Soundwave threw away the arm and grabbed Sideswipe from his back, every Decepticon was cheering as loudly as possible. Soundwave thrusted Sideswipes head against the wall like a battering ram, and again and again, and again each time making a louder sound as his skull hit the wall. And each time the crowd cheered louder.

* * *

Perceptor was sitting in his rolling chair; viewing a monitor above when Air Raid walked in. upon hearing his footsteps, Perceptor spun the chair around and greeted the Aerialbot with a smile.

'Ah Air Raid, how may I help you?'

BANG

'Just wondering if Jetfire has already left or not'

BANG

'I am afraid they left quite a while ago, you could probably meet them on the  
way back if you go now'

BANG

'Oh in that case why bother'

BANG

'I mean' he continued, 'why bother if I won't be able to help'

BANG

'I see your point Air Raid…'

BANG

'Yeah, is there anything you need help with Percy?'

BANG

'Yes actually, can you please investigate that banging sound, it sounds like it's coming from the cell block, it also sounds like the prisoners are becoming a tad louder than usual.'

BANG

'Huh? I was just there. Ah well I'm sure Sideswipe can handle it whatever it is.'

BANG

'But just to be sure…'

* * *

BANG  
BANG  
CRACK  
BANG  
CRACK  
CRASH  
SPLATTER

Sideswipe's skull shattered after the last hit on the wall, Chunks of metal that were once made up his helmet and even parts of his face were sent scattered around the floor with some stuck in the newly formed dent in the wall. Where his head used to be was a mangled mess of oil, Energon, and wires in a big lump of a deformed looking brain module.  
Soundwave reequipped his mask and looked around at the Decepticons cheering from their cells. They were chanting his name.

'SOUNDWAVE! SOUNDWAVE! SOUNDWAVE!'  
As the Decepticons continued to cheer, Soundwave freed Laserbeak

'Laserbeak, free your brothers.'

Laserbeak squeezed through the bars of Rumble's cell and tore off the clamps; the two of them rescued Frenzy as well as the other blank tapes and returned back into Soundwave's chest.

Air raid couldn't hear the banging anymore, but the Prisoners were still chanting. It became easier to distinguish what they were chanting now that the vacuum lift was closer to the cell block. Soundwave. _Why are they chanting Soundwave's name?_ He wondered. He knew that Sideswipe would probably make fun of him for worrying, but it still wouldn't hurt to check.

Air Raid could see the floor of the cell block, where two figures stood. One looked like it was purple and red, the other looked blue. That didn't make any sense. The vacuum lift opened as it hit the floor, and once it did, Air raid could see everything. He saw Soundwave standing there, arms and chest soaked in Energon, and he saw what was left of Sideswipe on the floor at the end of the hall, covered in a mix of his black oil and pink Energon leaving him soaked in his purple life blood, but more importantly to the Aerialbot; without a head.

Air Raid screamed.

Soundwave kicked Sideswipe's body towards Air Raid and stood in front of the dented wall

'Don't move!' screamed the Aerialbot

Soundwave did as he was told and stood motionless at the end of the hallway  
Regardless, plagued with fury, Air Raid transformed into his sleek jet mode and  
fired a barrage of missiles in Soundwave's direction. It was Soundwave's turn to transform as he converted into his Cybertronian truck mode and drove around the missiles unscathed. The missiles hit the dented wall causing it to collapse revealing a hole to the outside world. Soundwave nitro boosted his way out of the cell block and drove as fast away from the crashed Ark as he could. Without the signal jamming effect of the laser clamps, Soundwave could now send a distress signal.

'YEAH GO SOUNDWAVE!'

Back in the cell block, Air Raid propped up the inactive body of Sideswipe and turned on his communicator

'SOUNDWAVE WOOOH!'

'Somebody, anybody, I need help, it's Sideswipe he's… no Perceptor it's not... no I need… NO! I NEED RATCHET RIGHT NOW, GET RATCHET DOWN HERE NOW!'

* * *

Cybertron

'Shockwave, is that you?'

The energy signature Starscream had picked up turned out to be one of the last bots he wanted to see. Shockwave was fiddling with some sort of computer terminal before noticing Starscream in the corner of his eye he was bruised and dented, but most of all he was missing his right arm entirely, dark purple wires sprouted from his shoulder as he worked with his left arm doing all the work

He spoke without looking up from his work 'Ah Starscream, I see that you are still on Cybertron'

'I'm not the only one… obviously. What are you doing Shockwave?'

'I am currently trying to reconnect my link to the Insecticon hives.'

Starscream raised his upper lip in disgust  
'Would you please remind me why you would you want those disgusting creatures running around Kaon again?'

Shockwave raised his hand for a moment to put up a couple of fingers 'Two reasons Starscream: One, we need building materials to repair the space bridge. Two, I am lacking Energon and an arm as you can see' He pointed to his leaking shoulder where his arm should be, 'I am intending to get the Insecticons to retrieve my blast cannon and to also…'

Shockwave paused

'What, what is it?'

'Due to my low Energon levels and the lack of any other beings on the planet, I have come to the logical solution that _cannibalism, _would be the best course of action to ensure my survival'

'What?' Starscream always knew it, Shockwave was insane.

Starscream rubbed his forehead nervously 'Are you proposing that we… that we... EAT each other?'

'Not each other, no, just the Insecticons'

Starscream threw his hands into the air 'Oh yes and that makes it _much_ better!'

'"We"'  
Starscream paused 'What?'

'"We" will not consume the Insecticon's Energon, just myself. You are still a traitor Starscream, and I will report you to Megatron as soon as I have the Space Bridge reactivated. And second I _will_ be consuming the Insecticons Energon, but not in the way you think, first we will leech them dry of all the Energon which will require a tool from my la-'

Starscream cocked his rifle at Shockwave's head

'… Predictable'

* * *

_Nemesis_

Thundercracker felt like he was losing brain cells just standing on the Bridge with these idiots

'So let me get this straight' he began 'Our impregnable warship, which - besides the tow cable exits- only has one entrance, guarded by some of our top ranked soldiers who have been trained to resist any kind of torture, Just let you in because you asked nicely?'

'Yup that just about sums it up'

Thundercracker flung his arms to either side of him and shouted  
'HOW?!'

The slim figures hands moved straight up to their audio receptors  
'Ow, Ow, Ow, Primus, Ow, you don't have to yell you know'

Dirge put his hand over his (cone) forehead.  
'Just tell us what you want.' He asked in a begging tone

'No… Thundercracker has to apologize first'

Thundercracker was annoyed. He jabbed a finger at the figures face and spoke in a quieter tone.  
'Just what, the hell, should I apologize for?'

The figure moved closer to Thundercracker and whispered

'Apologize for raising your voice like a freaking aft'

Thundercracker stepped back and shot the figure a confused glance  
'How old are you? You are acting like a sparkling for Primus sake'

'C'mon Thunders' pleaded Dirge with an annoyed tone 'just say you are sorry so we can all get this over with'

Skywarp scratched the back of his head  
'Yeah you _are_ kind of being an aft to our guest Thundercracker'

'Yeah Skywarp's right you _are_ an aft' added the "guest"

Thundercracker snarled

'This isn't our "guest" this is an intruder, this "guest" of ours abandoned the Decepticons a millennia ago, and only now does this traitor come back?'

The guest gasped,  
'That hurts Thundercracker… that hurts right in the spark.'

'Oh for… alright, alright I'm sorry. Now can we…'

'No, that wasn't a proper apology'

_I must be going insane,_ he thought.  
Thundercracker faked a wide smile and spoke with his teeth grinding together  
'Then what would be a proper apology might I ask?'

'Okay repeat after me'  
'Got it'  
'I am so very sorry'  
'I am so very sorry'  
'I am a complete and utter aft'  
'Sigh, I am a complete and utter aft'  
'So please forgive me your highness.'  
'So please forgive me your highness.'

The Guest clapped. 'Great job, Bravo'

'So uh, what are you- you know- doing here anyway?' asked Skywarp

'Well, I noticed that you guys are lacking a good leader considering how good old Megatron is nowhere to be found and Shockwave is somewhere on Cybertron correct?

'Yeah that's right. How did you know?' asked Dirge

The guest smiled and raised an index finger 'Let's just say I keep in touch'

Dirge crossed his arms and frowned  
'So then what's your point, spit it out.'

'I think I can put you guys in the right direction, you don't have many options anyways. The past millennia I have been travelling the galaxy, I know it inside and out and even further. So if you would allow me to warm the space as leader for the time being, at least until we can find good old Megsy, then I would be ever so grateful.'

The Guest looked at Thundercracker and smiled  
'Thundy here can vouch for me, right pal? Besides I have a great resume.'

Dirge turned to Thundercracker who solemnly nodded in agreement.  
Thundercracker knew the guest better than most; they used to work together with Starscream, Skywarp and Jetfire protecting the dark Energon, and served in the air force before that. The guest was the first to join the Decepticons before he and the others made their deal with Megatron later in the war. It wasn't until he fought alongside the guest when he realized the potential that was shown. The guest had proven to be able to calculate battle strategies in almost any situation in an instant and made the most logical of choices. He hated to admit it but their guest was far more fit to lead than the three of them combined.

'What? This is ridiculous' Dirge put himself in front of the guest and jabbed his finger in their face. 'You are completely delusional; you wouldn't be able to lead ant-droids to a picnic, what makes you think you would be able to lead the Decepticon army.'

The guest chuckled  
'Touching _Megatron class humor_ Dirge, but I believe that it has been already decided that I should be in charge.' The guest had their back turned away from Dirge and walked to the other side of the bridge. 'Besides I don't think you would fare too well against me.'

Dirge slowly walked towards the guest, his arm transformed into nucleon charge rifle, he aimed it at the guests back.  
'Death comes to he who crosses Me.' he muttered before squeezing the trigger.

'Dirge wait!' called Thundercracker

The Guest spun around and pointed an EMP shotgun at Dirge  
'Good thing I'm not a _he_ then' the guest replied while firing a hole into Dirge's chest

Dirge was flung across the room from the blast and landed to the ground with a thud, a large smoking black hole now in his cockpit. The Guest skipped over to Dirges body happily and cocked the gun at his head to finish the job. Several Decepticons were running around in panic, not sure what to do.

'Slipstream wait, please don't kill him!'  
Slipstream looked at Thundercracker and smiled, her arm transformed back to normal as she skipped towards him.

'Fine, fine, but only because you said my name so lovingly'

Thundercracker groaned

Skywarp yelled into a communicator  
'Someone get a medical team up here stat'

Thundercracker rolled his optics 'Skywarp we don't have any medical teams, I'm the only medical officer on board anymore remember?'  
Skywarp carelessly dropped the communicator.

'Oh.'

Thundercracker sighed  
'Well I wouldn't worry too much about it this is Dirge we're talking about after all. He always gets better.'

Needlenose and Spinister ran into the room carrying assault rifles.  
'What happened? We heard a gunshot is everything alright?' asked Needlenose

Slipstream struck a pose involving her pointing at the ceiling dramatically  
'Ah yes witness your new leader as she has defeated a traitor easily in honourable comba-'

'But Slipstream, didn't you just shoot him in the chest' Skywarp interrupted

Slipstream scowled  
'Shut up you idiot, how am I supposed to make an example like that?'

Thundercracker cleared his throat and walked over to the two target masters.  
'Uh, look guys everything is fine, we just had a bit of a misunderstanding, you can go back to your posts if you want.'

Needlenose kicked the door frame.  
'Slag, I was hoping I would be able to shoot somebody for once.'  
Needlenose's fit was ignored as Spinister observed Slipstream.  
'That our new leader?' he asked.

Thundercracker sighed. Some Decepticons were picking up Dirge and dragging him to a med bay while Slipstream continued to berate Skywarp.  
'Yeah she is now, I'm afraid that if you got a problem with it you're gonna have to shoot her to get some attention'

'Is she better than Starscream?'

'Yeah I would think so'

Spinister shrugged.  
'Whatever, that's good enough for me, let's go Needlenose'  
Needlenose turned to Spinister in disbelief

'What? That's it? You are okay with giving leadership to some stranger with weird shapes on their bod-'

'Hold on' Thundercracker interrupted 'Is Cyclonus alright? I haven't seen him around all that much lately.'

'If you would consider rambling on like a maniac as okay, then yeah I guess he's just fine' replied Spinister

Needlenose looked annoyed.  
'Hey I was talking to you guys, don't just ignore me!'

But Spinister was already walking out the door, Needlenose chased after him. Not long after, Thundercracker left the bridge as well to tend to Dirge leaving Slipstream and Skywarp .

The Bridge was a lot quieter without the commotion, or to Skywarp it was at least.

Slipstream had begun typing something into a computer terminal. With no one else in the room to talk to, Skywarp felt an awkward feeling come over him as he began wanting to talk to the con that shot one of his best friends in the chest only moments ago.

'So uh, what are you doing Slipstream?'

'I am currently attempting to locate where our Decepticon brothers are…'

'Hah good luck with that!'

Slipstream faced Skywarp 'Why? What makes the survival of half our army so unlikely?'

'They were all aboard the Ark, we fliers were all able to get back into the Nemesis, but the ground team was absolutely torn to bits'

Slipstream grinned slyly  
'How much you want to bet at least one is still alive'

'Heh I like you as leader already. 5000 Shanix says they are all dead.'  
Slipstream tapped a key on the terminal. A hologram of Soundwave's head appeared

_'Attention to any Decepticons receiving this frequency, this is Soundwave. The Autobots are still alive; I have been captured along with the rest of the ground force. Only now have I escaped their prison, I am uploading my coordinates to the Nemesis computer'_

Skywarp turned to Slipstream with wide optics whereas Slipstream held out her hand

'Told you so, now about that 5000 Shanix…'

* * *

_Unknown location: Jetfire's exploration team_

Jetfire flew above the tree canopies where he could see the miles of jungle as far as his optics could see. Floral shaped patterns lined the rustling treetops as small mammals scurried through the giant green leaves. Wind blew through the trees creating a soothing rustling sound and slightly perturbing the mammals within. Jetfire used to explore planets just like these with Starscream back before the war; he found it nostalgic to fly above all the organic materials, unfortunately the memory of Starscream alone made him sick. Silverbolt flew next to him with a clutch drone stuck on his cockpit; unfortunately he didn't seem to be very thrilled with the sights of the new planet as much as Jetfire was. Jazz was swinging from tree to tree with his grapple while driving below was Cliffjumper leading the ground group, consisting of, Wheeljack, The white and brown motorcycle Protectobot Groove, The black and red sports car Bluestreak, and the red and yellow sports car Hotshot.

'Wheeljack, are you detecting anything down there?' asked Jetfire via communicator

'Not yet Jets, so far the only thing I have been picking up are really low amounts of Energon held in these trees'

'So-'

'Yeah pretty useless I know'

'Alright, if you run into any trouble, do not engage until Jazz, Silverbolt and I are on the ground'

'Don't worry Jetfire' assured Cliffjumper 'we could probably take care of it ourselves'

'Yeah, don't sweat it' said an enthusiastic Hotshot. 'Any cons show up and we'll teach 'em a lesson not to screw with us.'  
Wheeljack groaned

'It's not Decepticons we're worried about kid, it's the wildlife we should be afraid of, besides shouldn't you be back at the Ark? I don't believe you were chosen to come along with the rest of us'

'Relax Jack' said Jazz as he grappled to another tree branch right above them  
'He wanted to come along so I figured why not?'

'I don't know Jazz' Hotshot sounded somewhat frustrated 'I mean this isn't exactly the best place to drive, the mud keeps getting in my tires and the road is filled with bumps and potholes, couldn't we have found a flatter road to drive on?'

'Oh boohoo' taunted Cliffjumper, 'not all planets have roads you know, we are lucky to have room to drive at all.'

Bluestreak drove up next to Hotshot to give some sympathy  
'Actually I heard that somewhere there is a planet completely devoted to roads and racing, apparently it has been colonized by us Autobots so it may even be…'

'Guys hush up for a second' interrupted Jetfire' I'm receiving a call from Perceptor, it sounds urgent.'  
_  
'Jetfire, are you there?'_

'I read you Perceptor, what's the problem?'

_'Well I have terrible news and… probably not good news'  
_  
'What's the terrible news?'

_'Soundwave has escaped; it looks like Sideswipe tried to stop him but… I'm sorry Jetfire'_

_Oh Primus_

'What happened?'  
_'Soundwave was more brutal than what we are used to… I'm sorry'_

'Sideswipe's… dead?'

All the other Autobots stopped driving and listened in horror.

_'No… not yet anyway, Ratchet's doing all he can to save him but, his head…'_

'I don't want to hear it right now Perceptor, what is the, er probably not good news?'  
_  
'I am picking up a strange energy signature nearby your current location, it may not be friendly'_

'Noted'

Perceptor hung up without saying another word.

'Jetfire, is Sideswipe…?'

'No Cliffjumper, thank Primus no, but Perceptor has doubts, and you know that's not a good sign when he has doubts.'

'Well if anyone can do it its Ratchet, right?' asked Hotshot

'In the condition he's in now?' said Wheeljack Glumly. 'I don't know if you guys have seen Ratchet but he's a complete mess after Bumblebee…'

'We don't need any o' that negativity Wheeljack' Snapped Jazz 'I'm sure Sideswipe is going to be fine'

'Jetfire' said Groove 'Do you want me to head back? I am sure I can help in some way with Sideswipes recovery'

Jetfire thought about it for a moment before answering

'Alright, head back and help with Ratchet and the others, the rest of you stay on guard, Perceptor said that an energy signature was nearby so be prepared for anything'

After Groove drove off, Wheeljack's scanner beeped

'Um guys, it looks like something is heading towards us'

'What? What it?' asked Jetfire

'I'm thinking it could be a bunch of flesh eating monsters… or just a flock of birds… just a flock of flesh eating monster birds.'

'You're overreacting Wheeljack, worst case scenario it'll be a bunch of Elephants, there is no way we will come by and flesh eating monsters, or bir-'

Before anyone could respond a scream escaped Silverbolt's lips, a giant metal bird like creature seemingly appeared out of nowhere and had scooped up Silverbolt in its mouth, crushing his body with its jaw. As the bird bit down, a hideous crunching sound came from Silverbolt's armor plating.

'Autobots open fire!' ordered Jetfire

'A flesh eating monster bird, what did I say? What the _hell_ did I say. I was freaking right!' shouted Wheeljack

The four Autobot cars transformed and fired at the beast, Bluestreak and Wheeljack fired their shoulder mounted missiles at the creature, leaving only a few burn marks on the bird monsters metal skin. The creature beaded his large wings and flew backwards by a few meters before spitting up Silverbolt's crunched up Jet mode.

Bluestreak held out his arms as he watched Silverbolt fall

'Don't worry Silverbolt I'll catch you I-'

Silverbolt landed on top of Cliffjumper crushing the smaller Autobot beneath his weight.

'Oops… er thanks Cliffjumper, you're a pal!' The Red bots arm wiggled itself from under Silverbolt and shook his fist at Bluestreak.

Jetfire flew around the creature and fired a barrage of bullets out of the machine gun on his Jet-mode while Jazz attempted to snipe at the monster's wings from a tree.

'It looks like we got him on the ropes guys' said Hotshot, firing from his path blaster 'just a bit longer and I think it'll be over'

Hotshot spoke too soon. As two more monsters crashed through the trees and charged at the Autobots with massive jaws wide .


	4. Extensive Modifications

_Outside the Ark: 20 minutes earlier_

'You sure you got everything you need Warpath?'

'Yeah, Yeah I'm ready'

Ironhide and Warpath stood outside the Ark surrounded by the lush green jungle area, both with pistols, grenades and Energon knives on their wastes and connected ammo rounds draped over their shoulders. They both held extra Assault Rifles attached to their back just in case something ugly came along.

'You're sure? Cause if you start complaining about not having enough ammo, I aint turning back'

'I'm ready Ironhide' said an annoyed Warpath 'let's just get a move on'

'If ya say so' he shrugged

A bright light peeked between the swaying tree leaves above and shone on Warpath's optics, he quickly raised his hand to shield them from the light. He came to vaguely remember one of Perceptor's lectures about how organic planets had a star to give them energy, in other words a sun. He took a look around, the Jungle like landscape was green and vivid and the way the sun reflected off the trees gave off an odd aura, something Warpath enjoyed. Warpath never knew what the word for it was, but what he was seeing in front of him was what would be considered _Beautiful_.

'Warpath!' yelled Ironhide 'I thought you said you wanted to get a move on?'

Warpath woke up from his daydream to find Ironhide already way ahead of him glaring at him impatiently, was he really that absorbed by the beauty of the planet for that long?

'Sorry about that Ironhide, wait up okay?'

_This planet really is great _he thought.

* * *

_Outside the Ark: Now_

_This planet really does suck_, thought Wheeljack. Two more metallic monsters the size of Grimlock's Dino mode had burst out of the jungle; one of them was black and oozing a grotesque orange liquid from its pores leaving a terrible stench while the other resembled a white and blue shark with arms and legs.

Wheeljack sprinted over to Silverbolt who in jet mode looked like a pencil that was chewed on by a toddler.

'Silverbolt, you still alive?' asked Wheeljack

'Mm- fin'

'What?'

'I'm fine!'

Wheeljack sighed in relief

'Okay can you still transform?'

Silverbolt's body slowly began to change shape but stopped when the pain became too overwhelming.

'Ah… no can't transform'

'Relax Silverbolt; we will get you out of here.'

'NO! No running you need to help the others.'

Wheeljack turned around to see that Silverbolt was more right than he thought. Bluestreak was being chewed on legs first by the Shark monster.

'Argh, PRIMUS!' He yelled as the monsters jaws munched down on his waist. Just as the monster opened his mouth to bite down on his chest, Jetfire fired a missile into the creature's face causing it to spit up Bluestreak. Bluestreak had fallen chest first on the ground; his legs –while still intact- were mangled and twisted by the sharks' teeth.

'Hold on Bluestreak I gotcha' Wheeljack dragged Bluestreak over to Silverbolt away from the action.

Bluestreak grabbed his leg in pain. 'Argh y'know, this isn't half bad, at least it's only my legs and not my entire body, now _that_ would suck.'

The black and red car turned his head to Silverbolt who was dented, bruised, and battered all over.  
'Oh, sup Silverbolt.'

Cliffjumper and Hotshot fired at the monsters as they moved closer and closer to them, the monsters were slow, but they seemingly made up for that in defense as the Autobots weapons didn't seem to do much if anything at all to hurt them.

'Guys watch out!' called Jetfire

The avian creature had swooped down and grabbed Hotshot with its tooth filled beak and began to slash at Jetfire with its talons.

'Somebody help!' screamed Hotshot, it wasn't just that he was stuck in a monsters mouth about a mile off the ground, the monsters teeth were also digging into his body. It felt like he was being stabbed by several tiny knives at the same time.

Cliffjumper stopped what he was doing and fired at the flier holding Hotshot.

'Don't worry kid I'll get him' as he fired at the sky he felt a shadow overcome him. He turned around to see the black monster looming over him. While Cliffjumper was frozen in shock, the monster opened its jaws and grabbed Cliffjumper's whole upper body with its mouth.

'Oh hell no!'  
Jazz grappled onto the beasts head and pulled Cliffjumper out of its mouth as it struggled. Jazz had apparently thrown Cliffjumper away as the next thing Cliffjumper remembered after being stuck in the creature's slimy mouth was hitting the ground with his aft. Something didn't feel quite right. Cliffjumper looked around dizzily, he saw Jetfire fighting the avian creature holding Hotshot in its beak, he saw Wheeljack and a crippled Bluestreak firing upon the Shark creature, and he saw Jazz trying to ride on the creatures head. … He then looked down at his upper body; it was all rust coloured from his head down to his waist. He held up his hands and watched in horror as they began to crumble leaving only his stick-like skeletal infrastructure underneath. The black creature was excreting corrosive slime.

'Alright time for a lesson of how to take down a Bruticus 101' said Jazz as he began shooting the beast in the face repeatedly with his Scatter blaster.

The corrosive beast began trying to grab at him with its thick arms much to Jazz's amusement

'Hah you want a piece of me eh? You want a piece?'

'No Autobot' the black corrosive monster spoke  
'I want two pieces!'

Catching Jazz off guard, the black creature grabbed the Autobot, holding his leg in one hand and his back with the other, he began to pull. As Jazz screamed, the creature tore off his leg.

'Wuh? I should have torn off your whole waist by doing that' said the creature 'Oh well, second leg is worth the charm' before it could grab Jazz's other leg, Wheeljack had fired a second missile at the creatures hand forcing it to drop Jazz.

Above the fighting on the ground, Hotshot fired into the avian creature's eyes causing it to lose control; He pulled open the avian creature's beak and rolled out of its mouth. Hotshot realized it may have been a better plan if he was a few miles lower to the ground as he was above the tree canopies from where he was falling; he closed his eyes and braced for impact, however it did not come. He opened his eyes and looked up to find Jetfire holding him whilst hovering in robot mode.

'Retreat?' asked a dazed Hotshot

'Retreat…' confirmed Jetfire

After reattaching Jazz's leg with minimal effort, Wheeljack transformed to vehicle mode and transformed yet again as the vehicle began to expand, his vehicle mode grew into a boxier carrier with enough space to hold another Transformer inside of it. Silverbolt who was still stuck in jet mode was placed inside along with Cliffjumper, whose arms had already broken off because of the rust. Hotshot and Jazz painfully transformed to vehicle modes to drive the slag out of there while Jetfire picked up Bluestreak to fly back to the Ark. Due to the lack of speed by the monsters, they were out of sight in mere seconds.

'What the slag were those things?' asked Jetfire

'They appeared to be the energy signature Perceptor picked up' said Wheeljack, 'do you think all the wildlife are like this?' he asked

'That wasn't wildlife' said Jazz glumly 'That thing spoke to me, like a Cybertronian y'know?'

'I don't care what those things were' said Hotshot 'all I know is that I am NEVER leaving the Ark again, I mean just look at what the thing did to poor Cliffjumper'

Cliffjumper sat inside Wheeljack's Carrier mode as he stared down at his body, his arms were gone and his chest was beginning to crumble, all he could manage was a whimper.  
Jazz drove near Wheeljack to comfort his partner

'Don't worry Cliff; I'm sure Ratchet has some sort of cure for corrosive slime somewhere in his tool kit'

Wheeljack overheard Jazz say this, he already knew Ratchet didn't have any means of curing corrosive slime, but he figured it would be best not to tell them that.

'Alright guys' called Jetfire' It looks like we will be at the Ark in a few Nano-clicks'

Soon enough, the Ark was in view as expected. What they didn't expect was someone there to greet them, as they got closer, the Autobots could clearly see what was waiting for them. It appeared to be a red and yellow bug like creature. With two scythes for hands, one was waving at them and the other was piercing through Groove's torso.

* * *

_The Ark's Medbay_

Fixit had buffed out the last dent on Hotspot and moved over to continue his work on Scattershot whose repairs were nearly complete.

In the Emergency room Ratchet scanned over Sideswipe for the third time, First aid had his arms crossed as he watched the medical officer quietly.

'So?'

'So what?'

'What do we do?'

'I don't know'

First Aid shut his optics behind his visor and let out an irritated sigh  
'What do you mean you don't know, you are "Chief Medical Officer:  
Ratchet" there has to be _something_ you can do for Sideswipe!'

Ratchet raised his shaky hands in a pleading motion. 'You don't understand First aid, Sideswipe's body can be repaired, but his brain module has been wrecked. When Soundwave broke Sideswipe's skull, pressure was put onto his brain module, Several parts of his processor have been mangled beyond my ability to repair, and the dried oil that no one had bothered cleaning up has made it a lot more difficult for me.'

First Aid made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a laugh 'It's difficult? That's your excuse?'

'The only things that keep a Transformer alive are a spark and a brain module, Sideswipe's spark is keeping him alive however the brain module is only just clinging on. I haven't seen anyone in this condition since they started wheeling in patients from the gladiatorial games.'

First Aid stared at Ratchet blankly  
'You're giving up.'

'I'm not giving up, it's just-'

First Aid jabbed a finger at Ratchet and raised his voice. 'It's just that you are! Fixit and I have been breaking our backs working while you've been mourning Bumblebee. I don't get it Ratchet; millions of Autobots have died during the war, I have felt each and every one of them but I am still doing my job properly! What makes Bumblebee so special from the other million that died? Is it because he was your only "friend?" is that it?'

Ratchet smacked First Aid across the face and pointed to the door  
'GET OUT, NOW!'

Fixit and Hotspot stared at the two as First aid stormed out of the med bay.

Outside, Air raid sat on a bench, he was twiddling his thumbs staring at the ground before he noticed First Aid walk by.

'Hey doc, how is he?'

First Aid kept walking as if he didn't hear him speak. The sulking Aerialbot looked back down glumly and placed his head in his hands.

* * *

_Cybertron_

'You are going to serve me Shockwave, whether you like it or not'

Shockwave should have prepared for this; despite the fact that he had labeled retrieving Energon as first priority. He thought about whether Megatron would understand if he joined with Starscream for the time being, of course once he had obtained his blast cannon, he would be able to eliminate Starscream before he knew it.

'You are running out of time Shockwave'

Shockwave had to think fast, his best chance for survival was obvious; he had to cooperate with Starscream, for now at least.

'Very well, there should be plenty of Energon in the Insecticon's blood stream for both of us'

Starscream smiled

'Now bow'

Shockwave sighed and reluctantly bowed to the Seeker

Starscream let out a high pitched cackled and transformed his arm back to normal

'Brilliant, now fill me in on what has happened to everyone'

Shockwave looked up at his inactive spacebridge.

'I believe you are aware of my test subject Grimlock.'

Starscream rubbed the back of his neck and ran ah finger over the wound he had received from Grimlock.

'Yes, yes, I remember him quite fondly.'

'After Megatron boarded with nearly every battle squadron on the  
Nemesis, I monitored the spacebridge as we prepared for launch'

Shockwave paused and stood himself back onto his feet.

'However I miscalculated my test subject's strength, it managed to destroy the majority of Decepticon forces in Kaon and overload the Spacebridge's energy levels. It resulted in an energy wave which decimated the brain modules of any other Decepticon above ground.'

'So everyone else is dead.'

'Correct'

Starscream stroked his chin.  
'Very well then, would you please explain to me how you managed to survive Shockwave?'

Shockwave stared forward blankly taking a moment to think before answering the question.

'I have done… some extensive modifications in order to maintain my processors functionality in case of an emergency.'

Starscream shrugged, he could tell Shockwave was hiding something but he barely cared to press on the subject.

'So what happens now?' he asked

'As you are aware Starscream neither of us have the ability to fly, my engine was broken as I fell from my tower, and it appears your wings have been damaged'

Starscream looked back at his wings and snarled

'Yeah, so what's your point?'

'Either I give you my wings, or we do some surgery and I take your jet engine'

'I don't want your ugly wings Shockwave.' He spat  
Shockwave shrugged, and pulled out a laser scalpel

'Surgery it is then'

'NO, NO WAIT!'

* * *

_Nemesis_

In the nemesis med bay filled with saws, drills and other surgery tools, Thundercracker tended to Dirge, picking shrapnel out of the larger seeker's chest wound with thin metal stencils and scalpels. As he thought, the wound wasn't as bad as it looked. Dirge watched the monitor with disgust.

'I can't believe this; she is already redecorating the ship!'  
On the monitor, Slipstream was telling Needlenose and Spinister to place a throne in the middle of the bridge.

_'Over there, no wait too far, more on the left a bit, ah you idiots here let me show you'_

'Bah she is already treating us like trash too, I mean Megatron only started treating me like trash about a week after I joined, Starscream treated us like trash after a day, and now Slipstream is treating us all like trash after…'  
Dirge checked his chronometer on his wrist and looked back up '20 minutes'

'Whatever you say…' replied an uninterested Thundercracker.

Dirge glanced at Thundercracker with a frown. He noticed this and looked up at him.

'What?'

'You are actually okay with this aren't you?'

'It could be worse, there was Starscream after all'

Dirge rolled his optics

'Oh yeah, just because this looks so great in comparison means we can just let anyone take over.'

Thundercracker stopped what he was doing.

'Look you don't know Slipstream; she's not a bad con.'

Dirge grunted and turned his head away.

'I don't get it Thundercracker.'

'What don't you get?'

'As much as I want to kill Slipstream… I want to help her just as  
much'

Thundercracker dropped his tools and looked up 'What?'

'Yeah something about her really makes me want please her'

Thundercracker rubbed his optics with his index finger and his thumb

'Dirge we need to have a talk.'

* * *

_Cybertron_

'Shockwave this is embarrassing'

'Nonsense, you asked for my wings, it is only more efficient this way'

'But it's stupid!'

'How so?'

Starscream hovered in Jet mode, riding on top of him like as if he was a horse was Shockwave.

'Ah whatever let's just go'

'Excellent. Ah yes and please don't barrel roll, I would rather not fall  
to my death'

Starscream mumbled curses to himself as he boosted towards the second energy signature.

'You said that the energy signature fell from the sky?' asked Shockwave as he rode his trusty steed.

'Yeah, and it hit me too'

'Fascinating… It appears that even life forms from distant planets must hate you Starscream'

'Shut up or else I will turn myself around, you hear me mister?'

Shockwave decided it would be best to stay silent for now

'Up there, that's where the crater is' said Starscream

The crater was big; whatever fell to create it must have been huge.

That would explain the racket from earlier, thought Shockwave. They  
landed at the edge and peered down to see what had fallen.

'Nothing' stated Shockwave

Starscream transformed to robot mode 'What? This makes no sense how could something like that just get up and leave'

'Perhaps it actually "got up" and left. It did have a Cybertronian energy signature did it not?

'FOOL!' shouted Starscream as he crouched next to the crater and pointed at it 'the energy signature is coming from the crater. It is merely cloaked if we touch it, it may reveal itself to us.'

Before Shockwave could reply on how it would be impossible for something so large to be cloaked, three large Insecticons burst out of the ground and sat in front of Shockwave, one of them carrying a blender like tool with a handle. He groaned as he noticed none of them had his blast cannon with them.

'Ah here they are' said Shockwave 'would you like to have the first batch of this Insecticon's Energon Starscream?'

Starscream looked confused.

'So uh wait, how does this work?' Starscream pointed at the tool that the Insecticon had arrived with 'Do you use that thing to drain the  
Energon out without a mess or-'

Shockwave placed the tool next to the Insecticon and turned it on. Several blades lashed out and began grinding up the Insecticon as it was sucked into the tool. While most of the Energon was stored inside a cube shaped cup under the handle, the rest of the Insecticon was shot out the back side of the tool, covering Starscream in the Insecticons body parts and organs.

'… Oh dear Primus'

* * *

_Soundwave's location_

Soundwave had let out his three tapes, he had sent out Laserbeak to find scans so that he could give true life to the other three tapes he had in his possession. During the war P.O.W would have their sparks extracted and placed into these cassette tapes as punishment, they could be given an alt mode when freed; only problem was that the alt mode would have to replace their robot mode hence why Laserbeak had an avian mode, Rumble and Frenzy were exceptions as Megatron had purposely reformatted them for reconnaissance missions. However, he had left one tape behind on purpose; Megatron had ordered the Senator to be trapped in that form as punishment for his betrayal. It was only fitting that he rot in a cell after all. The planet was filled with primitive organic creatures, perfect as forms for his new minions.

'I am back' said Laserbeak through a mental link with Soundwave  
Laserbeak looked somewhat different, his wingspan appeared longer and his head looked more like an actual birds head. It made no difference to Soundwave, as long as Laserbeak could still do his job right.

'Laserbeak return' Laserbeak transformed back into a cassette and returned back into Soundwave's chest.  
Soundwave observed the scans, a black panther, a blue and white tyrannosaurus and a green and red Stegosaurus. He uploaded them into his other three cassettes. Their names were Ravage, Overkill, and Slugfest. Soundwave decided to address the new additions mentally.

'My fellow Decepticons, you are now free. However freedom comes with a price, we are currently stranded, our other Decepticon brothers have been captured and we are low on Energon. Are there any questions?'

'Yes.' said Overkill

'Speak' replied Soundwave

'WHEN ARE WE GONNA PICK UP SOME FEMBOTS MAN?!'

Soundwave covered his visor with the palm of his hand

_Slag it's another Rumble,_ thought Soundwave

'Hey I heard that!'

* * *

_Cybertron_

Shockwave and Starscream sat at the edge of the crater; Shockwave held one cube in his hand and handed the other to Starscream. Starscream took the cube cautiously and stared at its contents. The Energon looked slimy and had bubbles rising from it, he didn't care if his life depended on it (which it did) he was not going to drink this slag. But Shockwave was? Starscream realized, Shockwave didn't have a mouth, while most Decepticons simply retracted their faceplates to consume Energon, Shockwave didn't even have faceplate either, how the frag was Shockwave supposed to drink this stuff? Shockwave put pressure on his chin causing the plating just under his eye to move away panel by panel. Starscream gasped when he saw what was underneath. Just below Shockwaves eye were a line of mandibles, twitching and quivering as he drank the sloppy Energon. He turned to Starscream.

'Yes Starscream, this is what I meant by "extensive modifications"' his mandibles moved as he spoke.

Starscream was disgusted, who would do this to themselves he thought.

'You turned yourself into an Insecticon?'

'No not fully, I had already tested making an Insecticon/Decepticon hybrid, and after realizing how great the test results were, I used it on myself, Luckily in the end studies revealed that the pulses from the spacebridge didn't affect Insecticons. It saved my life Starscream.'

'You're a… freak!' Starscream tossed away his Energon and slid down the edge of the crater.

'Starscream wait!' Shockwave called as he chased after him.  
Starscream stood in the middle of the crater and placed his hands on his hips looking for a sign of a cloaked figure.

_'You ready Swoop?' asked Slag_

'Anytime big guy'

'Then pull the switch now!'

A loud banging sound occurred causing the two Decepticons to dart around trying to find a source of the noise.  
The Skyscrapers surrounding the Crater began to tip over, all leaning towards Starscream and Shockwave.

_Well I'm getting out of here_ thought Starscream as he transformed to fly away.

'Snarl!'

'On it'

A sniper bullet hit Starscream's cockpit causing him to fall back into the crater.

The Skyscrapers fell and crashed atop of the crater with both Decepticons still inside.


	5. Symbols and Scriptures

_Ark Medbay_

Ratchet took a step back from the injured Autobot and admired his work, all the wounds were mended, stitched up and reflowing with energon. He began to examine his patient. A concerned look came across his face as he began to recognize the Autobot in question.

'Zeta Prime?'

The old Prime leader turned his head like a wind up doll and stared at Ratchet.

'Why wasn't I rescued Ratchet?'

The bulky bot rolled off the table with a thud before limply standing back up.  
'Why didn't you go with Optimus to save me?'

Ratchet gasped and began to back away from the dead Prime.  
'Primus, Zeta, what are you doing ali-'

Zeta grabbed Ratchet by the shoulders, digging his fingers in, puncturing the medics white armor; he pushed the old medical officer against a work table.

'WHY COULDN'T YOU DO YOUR BEST SAVE ME RATCHET?!' Zetas low rumbling voice had now morphed into a high pitched scream as he shook ratchet violently. Each time Zeta shook him, his fingers dug deeper within Ratchet's shoulder causing the medical officer to scream in agony.

Ratchet reached for a buzz saw on the table behind him and turned it on. Without thinking he swung it at Zeta, cutting off both of the old Prime's arms.

'WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS RATCHET?! I WAS YOUR FRIEND!'

Ratchet stumbled away from the armless bot. His lip quivered before he was able to form the right words.  
'I am so sorry.'

A figure grabbed Ratchets shoulder. The medic turned around hoping to see a friendly face, only to realize that the bot had no face, let alone a head to begin with. All that was there was a lone brain module loosely connected to some wires above the neck.

'Sideswipe?! you-'

The red bot wrapped his fingers around his brain and began to tug on it; as he did so; more wires began to rip out with it.

'Sideswipe, don't do that!' he screamed as he tried to pull the headless bot's arms away, they were strong but began to weaken long enough for Ratchet to pull them down. The red Sideswipe began to go limp, Ratchet observed the area of the Autobot's head for a brain module only to see it was missing. To his horror, the damp, crunched up brain module was in his hand, Ratchets hand.

'NO, NO, NO, NO' Ratchet fell to his knees pushed the body away from him, he put his hands over his face and whimpered. He heard more footsteps walk towards him. As he looked up, he saw First-aid standing still, staring at the broken medical officer.

'First Aid please, it was Sideswipe, he just…'

'Witness the cure… that the love in your hands… shall spawn into the beauty… of our universe'

'What?'

First Aid fell to his knees and retracted his face plate; green liquid began spewing from his lips. His chest began to bulge and eventually exploded open as a small blue and black Cybertronian came crawling out, tearing apart First Aid's chest in the process. It looked like Soundwave. Shielding his eyes from the horror, Ratchet felt a breeze come over him, he winced before opening his eyes, he was no longer in the med bay, he was on the Ark as it flew through space. To the left of him were the corpse of Prime and Megatron. They had no legs, however they were both smiling with their arms around each other as if they were celebrating together. In front of him was Bumblebee who was holding a nucleon shock cannon.

'You aren't trying your best to save us doc'

A single blast from the cannon tore a gaping hole in Ratchet, killing him instantly.

Ratchet woke up screaming.  
_Oh Primus what was that,_ he thought. Ratchet experienced dreams like this when he first started his training during the war, but this one was far worse than the dreams he had back then. Those dreams were usually about having his head crest fall into a patients conversion cog or his fingers melting before him. Ratchet sat up, What if what happened to Sideswipe in the dream meant…

He jumped off of his recharge slab and sprinted towards the ER, inside was Sideswipe, brain module still intact, or at least as intact as it was before. He let out a sigh; it was just a dream he assured himself, just a dream.

'You okay Ratchet?'

Arcee stood outside the ER, her processor had been repaired however she still had some burn marks around her torso.

'I'm fine Arcee' he said as he walked over to her.

'You sure? Because you look like you were just visited by Megatron.'

Ratchet let out a sigh and leaned himself on the nearest wall.  
'It's just been the work load, First Aid has stopped helping and Fixit has been having trouble taking care of everyone else while I work on Sideswipe here.'

'I heard from Fixit that it was bad but… how bad is it?' she said as she tried to look over Ratchets shoulder to see Sideswipe

Ratchet looked back at the slab where Sideswipes body was, all the damages on the body were repaired, he even fixed his arm back on, but the brain module no matter how he looked at it, made him sick to his stomach.

'I will be honest with you Arcee,' Ratchet tried looking her in the eye but he failed to manage a single glance. 'I don't think I can save him'  
Arcee stared at him; she looked at him as if he had just told her he was really Megatron in disguise or as if he just told her Perceptor wanted to play tag with her.

'You're kidding right?'

'What do you mean?'

'You are going to do something for him aren't you?' Arcee motioned at Sideswipe over Ratchets shoulder.

_She's no different from First Aid_, he thought.

'What can I do Arcee? If I attempt surgery, even the tiniest mistake can kill him.'

Arcee turned away from Ratchet and rubbed her optics  
'Is there any other chance for him to survive that would make the process less dangerous?'

'No, I'm afraid surgery would be the only option'  
She sighed and turned back around and faced Ratchet.  
Her face looked determined yet sad. It was the kind of look Wheeljack made whenever he would create an invention that he knows will backfire anyway.

'Then it looks like you only have one option'

Ratchet groaned in an annoyed tone  
'Arcee I told you, surgery is far too risky, if I make one mistake-'

'Then you let him die knowing you tried your best to save him.'

Ratchet had déjà vu.

He saw truth in her words, Sideswipe will never recover on his own; Ratchet couldn't give up on an Autobot, especially when the Autobot still has a beating spark.

'Okay, I'll do it' he said nodding.

Arcee smiled.  
'Great to hear Ratch.'

She gave him a pat on the shoulder.  
'Whatever happens, just know that you did your best to save him.'

'Understood, now if you would excuse me, I have a patient to tend to'

'Ah yes, my apologies doctor.'

Arcee walked out of the room, glancing back with a smile for a brief moment before walking out of the med bay.

Ratchet turned to his patient.  
'Well Sideswipe, you've really gotten yourself into trouble this time.'

He began to work.

First Aid drove to the medbay in ambulance mode, he greeted Air raid as he passed to make up for last time, however this time it was Air raid who didn't reply. Transforming to robot mode, First aid squeezed past Arcee through the entrance and headed towards the ER. He had been thinking, perhaps he had been too hard on Ratchet, he had felt the same way about losing friends before, of course Ratchet wasn't one to have friends. Ratchet once told him that Besides Ironhide, Optimus, Wheeljack and the deceased Bumblebee; he saw the majority of the troops as generic looking robots that he confused with Scattershot a lot. First aid was being a hypocrite and he knew it, what was he thinking leaving the rest of the work to Fixit when he had been complaining to Ratchet about not doing his job, it contradicted what he stood for.

He went to the ER expecting to see Ratchet slumped over, still feeling overwhelmed. However what he saw actually surprised him, Ratchet was working on Sideswipe, tools in hand, Ratchet was carefully pulling out lose wires and broken metal and rearranging the parts of Sideswipes brain module. Most of all it was the look of determination on Ratchets face that sold it; it appeared that Ratchet actually wanted to repair Sideswipe again. First Aid smiled behind his faceplate and jogged over to Fixit to help repair the wounded Stakeout and Goldrod

* * *

_Outside the Ark_

'Drop the Protectobot, NOW!'

Hotshot drew his path blaster. The strange creature's left scythe was still slit though Groove's torso while the other pointed towards them.

'Now, now' the creature spoke 'my blade is only inches from this borehole's spark, one shot and your friend bites it'

Jazz signaled Hotshot to lower his gun and stepped forward.  
'Hey listen we don't want any trouble, just put the bot down and we can talk'

Perceptor had radioed Jetfire.  
_'Jetfire is everything alright?'_

The creature shot a glance at the flier.  
'Don't even think about answering it buddy.' He said motioning to Groove

'Okay' Jetfire transformed to robot mode and dropped Bluestreak.

'Ow Rude' muttered Bluestreak under his breath

'I am terminating the connection'

_'Jetire wha-' Perceptor's voice was soon replaced with static._

'Now what do you want from us?'

With Groove in scythe, the creature walked over to the jungle nearby the ark.

'Follow'

Jetfire looked at the others, Wheeljack was still carrying Silverbolt and Cliffjumper in his carrier mode, while Hotshot and Jazz still had claw and bite marks all over them.

'Listen, we will follow you as long as you allow us to mend our friends.'

'Hah, you think I'm an idiot? I don't want your whole damn army coming out to get me. I need you all to come with me before you lot go around telling your buddies to aim and shoot'

'You don't understand, we really need medical attention, if you let us in then we can drop off our wounded then we can..'  
The creature made a small slit in Grooves neck with his scythe, causing energon to leak out.

'Oops well would you look at that, now you better come quickly, I doubt you have much time before your buddy here leaks himself dry.'

* * *

_Nemesis: Medbay_

'So what you are saying is that she is a hypnotist?'

Thundercracker groaned.  
'No Dirge, that isn't what I meant at all'

'But you just said that she can get people to things for her because of the way she was manufactured; wouldn't she be manufactured with a hypnosis power then?'

'No I didn't mean she was manufactured with anything special, I just meant that she was manufactured in a way which made her able to er… how do I put this'

Dirge looked annoyed 'You tell me?'

'Okay, okay I got it' Thundercracker waved his hand in assurance

'You see Dirge; there are two different kinds of Transformers…'

'Autobots and Decepticons'

'No, well yes, but there are also males and females'

Dirge opened his mouth and nodded.  
'Right, but didn't the majority of females die in the war?'

'Technically every female Decepticon either died or had abandoned Cybertron sometime during the war; the former makes up the majority of course.'  
Dirge brought his fingers to his lips in thought. 'Okay so what makes the females any more special than us?'  
Thundercracker took a seat next to a terminal and spun it around for him to sit on it.

'You see Dirge, you don't remember it because well… you weren't manufactured at the time, but back in the golden age - before the war - we actually had lessons teaching us about the history of our race. Back in the ancient's time we were more organic, more so in biology than in appearance but the similarity was there. During that time the ancients couldn't create more of them by the Allspark like we used to, so they went through a process called "budding"'

'Ah yes of course… what's budding?'

'Basically budding was a process where one Transformer would give birth to another biologically; this was only accomplished by the females, However it was said to be an extremely long and painful process.'

'That doesn't make any sense' Dirge spat as he raised his hand in denial 'How is that even supposed to work? And were we not involved in any of that?'

'Well technically the ancient's males were involved, at the time the well of allspark hadn't been discovered yet…' A look of fear and disgust ran across Thundercrackers face,  
'…and thus the only way to create a transformer was to use another's spark.'

Dirge stared at him blankly as if waiting for Thundercracker to admit it to being a joke or to laugh it off. Dirge's optics widened as the seeker continued.

'Budding was a nasty process yet a necessary one, the males had to give up there sparks in order for the females to go through the process, Now I know what you're thinking Dirge, I can tell by the look on your face, but at the time the ancients lacked the ways of creation we had in our lifetimes.  
While you would think the males would rather live than give up there sparks for another, Primus knows why, death by giving up their sparks was apparently the number one goal of every Cybertronian to the point where they would worship the females. The females would devour the males sparks and then birth a being out of their chests.

In the end the females would live on and the males would be replaced with more whereas if a female were to die, another female would be born to replace that one.'

Dirge placed a hand on his forehead and shook his head trying to process the info dump. He raised his head and scanned him for a sign that he was making it all up, but that wasn't the Thundercracker he knew.

'So what had changed?'

Thundercracker rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and shrugged

'By the time the core and the well of Allspark were discovered, the budding process became obsolete. After time the ancients evolved, while budding was forever lost, females were still forged regularly from the well. Of course after becoming a target during the war they were mostly killed off'

'So what you're saying is that Slipstream, as well as other females, have that same sort of effect on males as they did during the ancients time?'

Thundercracker nodded 'Exactly, most of us still have that same urge to give up our sparks for her that we had received from our ancestors'

'But it's not like she can still take our sparks can she?'

'Thankfully No, femmes lost that ability a long time ago.'

Dirge stared at the floor, still unsure of what he had just learned.  
'Thundercracker, why weren't we taught this during the war?'

Thundercracker let out a sigh and stood up 'Megatron never thought history was important, he always said we should be "looking forward at our bright future."'

'Well if you ask me, I wouldn't mind knowing a bit more about our, er… "History"'

'Maybe, although you haven't even heard the half of it, there was the Quintesson invasion, the original thirteen, the first landing on moon base one, the Harvest, The Novacon war, the transportation of the sun, the…'  
Dirge stared at him intently; Thundercracker realized what he got himself into.

'Sigh okay let's start with the thirteen…'

* * *

_Within the jungles surrounding the Ark, The Autobots follow the strange creature…_

'I don't trust him Jazz' whispered Hotshot

'Gee what makes you say that? The fact that he just slit open Grooves neck?' he replied sarcastically

Jetfire, now carrying Bluestreak around his arm jogged up beside the creature  
'Would you at least mind telling us where you are leading us?'

'Don't worry you won't have to walk much farther, I am just going to help you become a bit more –Ah "acquainted" so to speak'

'And what is that supposed to mean?' asked Jazz

'It means I am going to kill you all in the slowest most painful death you can imagine'

The Autobot's stopped walking and glared at the creature

'Nah I'm just #$%ing with you guys, my friends and I just want to let you know about the, terms of this planet before you end up killing yourselves.'

'To be perfectly honest with you I doubt some of us will survive through listening to your terms before you let us leave.' said Wheeljack

'Oh now that is just mean' spat the creature 'we aren't that boring of talkers'

'No I mean Cliffjumper is rusting, the corrosive slime has finished eating away at his chest plate, I don't know how much longer he can hold on'

Jazz looked frantic,  
'Listen man we really need medical attention, is there anything you can do for us?'

'Relax we're here.'

The Autobots moved into a clearing where a crashed ship lay buried in some rubble. The only intact part of the ship was visible as a hatch that was left open.

'Grotusque, Doublecross, get your afts out here and help our guests'  
Two robots sprinted out of the ship and ran towards the Autobots. One had red limbs, a blue chest and head, and had small wings poking out of his back, the other had white and black limbs with red shoulders and dragon heads for hands. While one of them grabbed Bluestreak, the other reached into the back of Wheeljack carrier mode and pulled out Cliffjumper, the acid had turned black and parts of the small Autobots cranium were now crumbling off revealing a skull-like head.

'Get them onto the repair bay stat!'

The Autobots followed the three into the ship, at the end of the hallway was a medical bay, Cliffjumper was placed on a slab and hooked up to some sort of tube that stopped the corrosion, above him however was something there Wheeljack hadn't seen since the core shut down on Cybertron.

'Repair rays!'

Doublecross turned to him

'What? Oh yeah these things, they should fix your friend up just fine'  
The repair rays shot a wave of energon on Cliffjumper, causing his body to shift and regenerate the parts that had rusted away, it was a slow process, but at least he would live. Silverbolt, Groove and Bluestreak were put on slabs as well where more repair rays sprouted and began to work.

Grotusque gave off a hearty laugh 'Hey Repugnus where did you find these guys? They look like $#!%'

Repugnus ignored him and turned to Jetfire.

'Now then' The bug creature transformed to a yellow and red robot.

'Where shall we begin?'

Hotshot shot a quizzical glance to Jazz who decided to speak first

'First off' he began 'What is up with you guys? Are you Autobots or what, and what is with that alt mode?'

'I am quite surprised actually'

Repugnus flopped onto a metal couch in the corner of the room and lied down with his hands behind his head.

'None of you recognize me after all these years'

Hotshot examined the bot closer before snapping his fingers 'Repugnus! I remember you now; we were under Fortress Maximus's command once on Cybertron' He chuckled enthusiastically ' I remember now because all you used to do back then was curse in other languages, what are you doing out here?'

'They were exiled' stated Jetfire bitterly

The other Autobots turned to him

'You and the others were forever known as _Monsterbots_ after what you did, it's the truth isn't it?'

Repugnus ran his optics across the ceiling blankly 'More or less.'

'Exile?' asked Wheeljack who was scrubbing some oil off his hands with a cloth  
'I've heard of some cruel punishments but what did you do to get exiled?'

Repugnus cringed, he turned his head to see the four standing Autobots staring at him, behind them he could see Grotusque and Doublecross giving him stern looks. He had realized how awkward lying on the couch was while everyone stood, it felt like he was in therapy with four psychiatrists which he hated to admit, had indeed experienced when he was still on Cybertron.

'Let's talk about what is more important now shall we?' he said sitting up.  
He cleared his throat, 'As you have obviously already noticed, this planet is not welcome to visitors, especially those without beast modes such as yourselves'

'So those monsters we fought earlier are Cybertronians like us? Asked Jazz

'Ah yes the Terrorcons, I couldn't mistake Blot's slime for anything else. Yeah the Terrorcons are Cybertronians, however they have become a little too fond of this planet and have become nothing more than the $#!% stains they scanned, I doubt they can even transform anymore.'

'I wouldn't be surprised' said Hotshot as he stretched his arms 'Next time we see those three it will be with Ironhide, Perceptor and the others' He smiled as he cracked his neck 'Then we will see who wants to make a meal out of my friends.'

Repugnus laughed 'Three? You haven't even seen their leader Hun-grr fight. Unlike his lackeys Cutthroat, Blot and Rippersnapper who just like to chew and spit up their food, Hun-grr likes to completely devour his'

Hotshot lowered his arms in disappointment.

'Are there any other Cybertronians here besides us?' asked Jetfire

'Yeah more than you think, you see this planet has had several ships land here.'

Repugnus cackled and shook his head.

'Actually more so it had several ships_ crash _here, anyways there is what you could call a small civilization a few kliks away from here. You want energon? Then you better ask the leaders over there for some.'

After realising Repugnus had finished, Wheeljack spoke up.  
'Er thanks Repugnus, we will keep in touch yeah?'

'Don't bother, we will be moving our ship in a few hours for a new place to mine energon, the stuff doesn't come cheap y'know.'

Doublecross stepped in 'It's even harder to purify it than to find it thanks to this damn planet' He looked to the side and bit his lip 'your buddies are looking better by the way.'

Hotshot walked over to Bluestreak whose legs had regenerated with the help of the repair rays. Bluestreak spotted him and a smug smile stretched across his face.

'Hey bud, how's it going?' he asked while sitting up 'Some nice folks we got here, but that Repugnus guy keeps "bugging me" eh? Get it, because-'

Hotshot sighed 'Yeah because he turns into a giant bug creature I get it'

'Hah yeah exactly, you should hear the jokes I thought of for Grotusque and Doublecross'

'Maybe another time Bluestreak, Y'know before we were attacked, you mentioned a place where all anyone did was race?'

Bluestreak's grin broadened

'Yup, I can't remember who I heard it from, but apparently the world is as big as Cybertron and is currently in another golden age!'

Hotshot rested his arms at the edge of Bluestreak's slab with a childish grin  
'What is this place called Bluestreak?'

'The planets name is Velocitron, but most people call it the speed planet' He waved his hand in an arch dramatically as he said speed planet.

'Is what you say really true Bluestreak?'

'Of course it isn't' snapped Jazz

'Jazz?' Hotshot gave a quizzical look 'You don't believe in Velocitron?'

'I don't, that's because it's all a load of scrap. Velocitron is just something all the sport jockeys came up with early on in the war in order to cope with no longer having their little racing to keep them occupied'  
Hotshot stood up and stared at his feet, his fists were clenched tightly.

'Well if you put it that way Jazz, then I guess It is best not to talk about stupid things like racing'

He faked a laugh and walked out solemnly. The now restored Cliffjumper ran up to Jazz and punched him in the shoulder.

'What is wrong with you Jazz?' He pointed a finger at the spec ops agent and scowled 'He looks up to you y'know?'

Jazz raised his lip and brushed away his partners hand before walking out of the Monsterbots medbay.

Cliffjumper leaned on a recharge slab and looked at Bluestreak.  
'I can't remember the last time I've seen him like this.'

'Huh… I guess'

Bluestreak had remembered who it was that told him about Velocitron, although he must've been mistakened. If he remembered correctly, then the Autobot who told him about Velocitron was Jazz. Although Jazz had a different name back then, it was no doubt the same person, even considering how different that bot was back then compared to how he was just moments ago…

* * *

_10 or so kliks away give or take…_

'Ironhide I think I found something!'

The red Autobot jogged over to Warpaths position.

'What was that?'

'I said I think I found something' Warpath pointed down at a pile of vines where the shine of metal gleamed beneath it.

Ironhide knelt down and pulled away the vines revealing more of the metal. He took off an energon knife from his belt and cut into the plant life, slowly tearing more of it away until what came into view was a neatly printed picture on the metal. Ironhide stood up and crossed his arms as he gazed down at the picture. It appeared to be more of a symbol really; it was that of a head with one side being metallic and the other side organic looking. Ironhide couldn't help but find the metallic part of the head familiar. The organic half had pink skin and silver hair coming out of its scalp, an ugly looking creature in Ironhide's personal opinion.

'What is it?' asked Warpath

'Not entirely sure' Ironhide sheathed the knife and unclipped a scatter blaster from his belt  
'But we're about to find out'

Ironhide fired a round into the symbol sending shards of metal flying into the air, the veteran cleared way the smoke to reveal a dark hole underneath.

Warpath flinched.  
'We uh- we aren't going in there are we?'

Ironhide looked at him and smirked before sliding legs first into the hole. Warpath shrugged and followed him inside. Everything was pitch-black and it felt like he was standing on a slope.

'Ironhide I can't see a thing, where are you?'

'Relax kid I'm right here, just gimme' a sec to turn on my lights'  
At either side of Ironhide's head shone small light's. He looked at Warpath who shielded his visor from the light.

'Well? Aren't you going to turn on your head lights?'

'Wha- oh okay I thought you meant, never mind hold on a sec'

Warpath turned on his lights allowing the two bots to get a better view of where they were. They were in a tilted metal corridor; the angle that the hallway leaned gave the Autobots an ominous feeling, as if they were in a fun house during night time when nobody was around.

'It would be best if we stick together.'

'Don't have to tell me again Old timer…'

The two bots walked down the hallway, they took a couple of turns until they came across a light switch on the wall.

'Warpath be careful, it could be a tra-'

Warpath flicked the switch.

'WARPATH!'

'Huh? Oh sorry I didn't hear you.'

The lights came on revealing the lime green hallway to be cluttered with odd tools and weapons. Painted on the walls were alien symbols and scriptures.

'Have you seen anything like this before Ironhide?'

'Nah kid I aint the one to be asking those kinds of questions, that's the kind of stuff you would ask Ku-'

A figure caught Ironhide's optic through a crack in a doorway.

'Hold on a second kid'

Ironhide opened the door and pointed his scatter blaster at the figure. The figure was sitting in a chair, with a metal beam stuck through their skull.

* * *

_Cybertron_

Starscream groaned as he picked himself up, he felt like someone had dropped a building on him, as his memories returned to him he realized that a building had indeed fallen on top of him. But where had Shockwave gone, and who could have done this. He took a look around, it appeared that he was somewhere beneath the surface. He must have fallen through the crater before he was meant to be crushed. It was dark but he could make out some of the shapes of scattered scrap metal left by the rotting decay of the space slug corpses.

'Shockwave! Where have you gone? I am not in the mood for digging myself up so come and help your master.'

'Starscream…'

'Shockwave?'

Starscream followed the voice and tripped over a pole like object, falling onto the rough metal floor, he winced in pain as he pierced his hands on the sharp metal while pushing himself up. He spotted Shockwave standing on a large heap with his single eye staring at his ground below him.

'Shockwave what are you-'

'Hypothesis…'

Starscream jumped onto the heap Shockwave was standing on to get a better look at what the one eyed scientist was staring at.

'We are currently standing on the life signal that fell from the sky Starscream.'

Starscream scoffed 'What are you talking about; this is just a…pile…of'

The seeker took another look at what he had tripped on, it appeared to be a cannon, he traced down the cannons barrel to see what it was connected to, he made out a large head followed by a larger chest which the two were standing on. It was then with fear and surprise, that Starscream had realized that he was standing on the deactivated body of Bruticus.


	6. Because I am still living

Ratchet sighed as he packed away his scalpel. He looked over the black processor one last time before turning to his data pad to take note. He had done well, better than he thought he would have done. The brain had some of its minor functions on line, but no matter what else he tried, it just wasn't enough, just as he feared, Ratchet could not bring Sideswipe back. Thinking back to what Arcee had said, he had still done his job to the best of his ability, and in the end he thought he did a good job. He had failed, but he thought positively, Sideswipe was no worse from before the operation, he was still alive, but there was just nothing Ratchet could do about it. He walked out of the ER cleaning his hands with a cloth where First Aid greeted him, he observed Ratchet with a stern look.

'How is he?'

Ratchet gripped the cloth. He was afraid of what First Aid would say, ironically enough it was usually the younger Autobot that was worried about what Ratchet would think after failing to save a life.

'I'm sorry First Aid, I did all I could, I did! But the central wirings were left cut for too long and the connections to the muscular skeletal systems were too far down his throat to be recovered, I'm sorry First Aid I just…'

'Ratchet' First Aid put a hand on his shoulder. Ratchets head shot back up 'you did all you could, I believe you, is he still alive?'

Ratchet nodded.

'Then relax, we still have hope' First Aid tapped at his wrist revealing a hologram of a repair ray.

'Jetfire sent a message about 15 minutes ago; he said he found some exiled Autobots… don't ask. Anyways he says they have repair rays from before the planet shut down. Maybe we could use them to help Sideswipe.'

Ratchet shook his head 'No, repair rays have only been known to repair the body, they would be useless on a brain module.'

First aid turned off the hologram and slumped over an empty recharge slab.

'So we just leave him like this?'

Ratchet hated the idea of leaving Sideswipe the way he was, but the idea of killing Sideswipe went against what he stood for as a doctor.

'Yeah, I guess we will be leaving him like this for the time being, until we have an idea of what to do with him at least.'

First Aid nodded; there was a moment of silence, the two medical officers were unsure of what to say to each other at this point. Finally Ratchet broke the silence with a low cough.

'… How's Trailbreaker doing?'

'Still in stasis, the big guy is nearly done his repairs, hard to think he has been in stasis for over a year now.'

Ratchet nodded 'Aid… what do you think is going to happen to us in the future? I mean we are stuck on this planet with little energon, how long do you think we will survive?'

First Aid sat on the recharge slab and stared at the floor.

'To be honest Ratch, that's one of those questions that you _don't_ want to know the answer to'

_Cybertron, beneath the surface…_

'Bruticus?!' Starscream yelled in Shock 'What is he doing here?'

Shockwave crouched down next to the giant and examined Bruticus' face, in a second Shockwave thought of 54 answers to what Bruticus could have been doing on Cybertron when he _should_ have been with Megatron on the Nemesis. He deduced that the most Logical reason would be…

'He was shot off the Ark and landed here'

Starscream chuckled to himself

'Oh of course, miles and miles away from Cybertron, and he just fell back with little more than a few burns? What logic did you put into that?'

Shockwave thought to himself, it really didn't make any sense, If Bruticus fell back to Cybertron, then he would have suffered burns much worse than these, By calculating the time it has been since Bruticus has landed, plus the severity of the burns, Shockwave came to the conclusion that Bruticus had to have fallen from at least Moon base one. He began to recalculate possibilities.

After a moment of watching Shockwave mutter to himself, Starscream realized that the scientist wasn't going to answer him for at least another minute so he jumped off of Bruticus and examined him, the legs made by Swindle and the old ground commander Brawl, the Arms made from Vortex and Blastoff. Then there was Onslaught, the chest and head of Bruticus, Starscream felt compelled to shoot the traitor right now, but of course, considering the current situation perhaps it would be best to let Shockwave do his thing. He wasn't an idiot; at least not to him anyway, it should have been perfectly fine to vent his rage by a simple kick to the head rather than a shot to the head. He lifted his leg back and kicked the gestalts massive cranium.

'OW MY FOOT' Starscream screamed, He WAS an idiot, , who in their right mind would just kick a combiner in the head, stupid.

'Starscream, what did you do?'

Starscream glanced back at Shockwave who was pointing at Bruticus' head. It appeared that Starscream had activated something when he kicked the combiner. Bruticus' large eyes glowed dark red, but before Shockwave could get a better look, dark red beams shot out of both eye sockets and burned through the downed skyscrapers above them. An electrical surge then went through Bruticus' body and zapped Shockwave, sending the one eyed con flying into a corner.

The beams finally stopped and Bruticus' eyes turned dark again. Shockwave brushed himself off and pulled some debris out of his armless shoulder.

'Starscream, I have reason to believe Bruticus was captured during his fall through space'

Starscream, still skeptical from the display he had seen, tiptoed over Bruticus.

'What do you mean captured? He is right here you moron'

'What I mean to say Starscream, is that Bruticus has been experimented on before crash landing here'

Starscream scoffed 'You would know ALL about that' he said while glaring at the one eyed Decepticons chine where his mandible's were hidden

Shockwave ignored him and continued his analysis

'I believe that Bruticus had been captured by Autobots, following an experimentation process of some kind, once it was done, they through him away, leaving him here to die'

'So he shoots some lasers out of his eyes big whoop. What kind of experiments would Autobots want to do on a brute like…Bruticus?' _So that's why he is named that_, Starscream thought_. Brute…Bruticus_

Shockwave pointed at each of Bruticus' limbs

'See those scars?'

'Yeah, what about them'

'They are where the Combaticon's conversion cogs are supposed to be'

Starscream looked at Bruticus and then looked back at Shockwave.

'You are saying the Autobots took their conversion cogs?'

Shockwave nodded 'Without his conversion cogs, Bruticus will not have a hope of splitting back into the Combaticons until they are replaced'

'You think the Autobots are trying to rip off our combiner technology'

Shockwave shrugged 'I somehow doubt it.

The seeker crossed his arms and frowned

'You don't think it is Autobots, do you?'

Shockwave didn't answer. Starscream sighed and looked up at the two holes the beams of light that had erupted from Bruticus' eyes had created through the skyscrapers. This was no accident; someone tried to kill them, but who else was still on Cybertron?

'Dinobots'

'Who?' Starscream felt as though he just had his mind read.

'Slug, Swoop and Snarl' the remaining members of Grimlocks team, I have come to the conclusion that they plan to kill us and use my secret project to escape from Cybertron.'

Starscream cringed when he heard Shockwave say escape. It was if Cybertron had now become a living hell to most, which it indeed has.

'What is this secret project you speak of?'

'_One_ of my secret projects actually.'

'Ah so just like your little self-experiment' said Starscream in disgust.

Shockwave lifted his hand up to the part of his head where his mandibles were covered.

'That reminds me' he said

He put his fingers up to the white antenna at the side of his head.

'Kickback, do you read?'

_Shockwave's tower_

Kickback and Hardshell had just finished devouring their insecticon brother Sharpshot. While Kickback would miss the company of his brother, he was proud to admit he had always wondered what Sharpshot tasted like, better than he expected.

'_Kickback, do you read?'_

Kickback stood up straight and radioed back

'Kickback here sir'

_'What is your status?'_

'Sharpshot is delicious… I mean Sharpshot is dead, and Hardshell suffered some wounds, but don't worry I am fine.'

'_That is not what I care about Kickback, I just need someone to activate experiments: VNM DELUXE and CHPSHP DELUXE _

Hardshell overheard and responded back

'But sir, those experiments are-'

'So help me Hardshell'

'Understood'

Hardshell turned to Kickback.

'Let's go Kickback; we have an errand for Shockwave'

'YAY!'

_The Crashed alien ship: Ironhide and Warpaths location_

Ironhide lowered his weapon

'Relax kid, he won't be hurt'n anyone anytime soon'

'I am the one relaxed; you are the one who drew your weapon.'

'Ah shut it, see if there is anything in here that looks useful'

The two Autobots searched the ship, Ironhide, ignoring the dead green robot, searched through desks only to find them all empty, Warpath on the other hand came across a large door that reached a high ceiling, wondering what was inside, the red tank opened the large doors and peered in. He gasped and fell to his knees; within this room was something he thought he would only ever dream about.

'BLAM!'

Inside the room were rows and rows of guns alongside other weaponry, all shiny and new looking. Warpath ran up to each gun, staring at them like a little kid on Christmas morning. Big ones, small ones, all sorts of guns and cannons one could ever want or need. He pulled the guns off of the walls and brought them all to the floor. He began to dance around like a ballerina in joy as he lifted the guns and threw them up in the air allowing them to shower all over him, he fell back in the pile of guns and cannons and did what would be an equivalent of a snow angel in the fire arms.

'YES, YES, YES!'

Ironhide was standing in the doorway speechless.

'What in the name of Primus are you doing?'

Warpath jumped to his feet and scratched the back of his head

'Oh well um… hey Ironhide check out these cannons, you would probably like them'

Ironhide thought he had searched through everything in the other room. However he had missed what was in the palm of the dead green robots hand, it was an audio log, after finally rewinding, the audio log played itself on its own.

'_This is Flacker, I OH GOD I think it's… wait….. I think….. imagined …something... in doorway. My partners Oval… Fleet …..dead; died trying…. get away….anyone recei…. this message, wh…ever you do, ..nt go to…planet…ebu….s… I repeat.. do …not..OH GOD…THERE…IS….GET AWAY…GE….OU…. MY HEAD!….SCREEEEEEEEEEE. End log.'_

'Hey did you hear something Warpath?'

'What?'

'Never mind'

_The Monsterbots ship…_

After explaining the situation to Perceptor via intercom, Jetfire gathered the Autobots in a circle as he addressed them.

'Alright Autobots, Perceptor and I have decided that the best course of action would be to meet with the occupants of this civilization Repugnus had talked about, Groove will be heading back to the Ark, anyone else who wishes to head back is welcome to go with him'

'Finally!' said Hotshot 'I am sick of this place, I'm heading back to take a nap, someone wake me up when we are off the planet.'

Hotshot transformed and drove to the exit. Bluestreak soon followed behind.

Repugnus strolled over to Groove and held out a hand.

'No hard feelings eh chum?'

Groove slapped it away in disgust.

'You could have killed me!'

'Ah that was in the past, besides how else am I supposed to get someone attention?'

'Several ways actually, asking politely, NOT stabbing people…'

'Aww cheer up, if it wasn't for us your little red friend would be dead'

Groove shrugged and drove away in motorcycle mode.

'Hey, I was expecting a thank you at least!'

Wheeljack worked on repairing the clutch drone, He decided to add some rockets that shot drills to the drone - just in case. He turned to Cliffjumper who caught his attention by doing some jumping jacks.

'You aren't heading back Cliff? You only just recovered from your corrosive state.'

'Ah relax Wheels, I'm perfectly fine now, and besides someone needs to keep an eye on Mr. Grump'

'Who,' Wheeljack crossed his arms and paused to think 'Silverbolt?'

'What? No. well yeah him too, but I am talking about Jazz.'

Wheeljack Nodded 'Right! Yeah weird how he snapped at Hotshot like that, maybe it had to do with his past'

Cliffjumper tilted his head and gave Wheeljack an odd look.

'What about his past? Besides the dozens of medals he shows off, all I have ever heard about his past is that he trained himself in Metallikato for a while but that's the only thing that has really stood out…'

'No not that Cliff, I'm talking about the stuff he _doesn't_want you to know about. You see he was a racer back in the day, along with other Autobots that have forever left Cybertron such as Windcharger, Swerve and of course the champion Blurr. One day he was close to getting into the finals where the top athletes would compete in "speed planet" no one knew where it was located however races were always filmed there.'

Wheeljack chuckled 'They say speed planet was an actual planet, however for some reason Jazz just dropped out in the last minute. I wouldn't think it would still bother him now, but who knows what is going on in his head, am I right Cliff?'

Cliffjumper didn't looked amused,

'Pfft that's dumb, Jazz wouldn't freak out over something like that, would he?'

Wheeljack shrugged.

Jetfire counted heads, Wheeljack, Cliffjumper and Jazz looked like they were willing to go with him. He looked over at Silverbolt. He was mended; however he was leaning on a wall and staring at the floor as usual.

'Er you gonna come with us Silverbolt?'

He nodded

'Okay then…'

Jetfire meant to ask him about what was on his mind; but felt like it wasn't a good time. He was approached by Grotusque.

'Repugnus wanted me to escort you to the village, I'm sure you don't mind'

'Oh not at all' Jetfire thought it was funny how just earlier one of them was ready to kill Groove and that they were ready to trust them again so easily.

'Alright then let's head out' Grotusque transformed into a blue, brown and red dragon like creature with bat wings and moved towards the exit.'

'Now my memory isn't the best, but I believe before every mission Optimus Prime would say something like "Autobots, Transform and…. $# % those Decepticons, right up their $$'s"

The Autobots as well as Doublecross all groaned in unison with a mix of "ewws" and "dang it that's nasty". Only Repugnus let out a laugh.

'Not literally.' assured Grotusque

_Arks Med bay_

Red Hot had finally been fully mended, leaving only Trailbreaker and Blades still in need of repairs.

Fixit looked up at Ratchet and shook his arm to get some attention.

'Can I help you Fixit?'

'Why don't you take a break, it is getting kinda late and all you have been doing is working all day.'

Ratchet smiled down at him.

'Well let me tell you how much I appreciate it Fixit but…' He looked over at Blades who only needed a few tweaking to be fully recovered, he then looked down at his hands that were shaking from all the work he had done.

'Maybe you are right Fixit, early Aerialbot catches the con as they say.'

He allowed Fixit to finish repairs and strolled over to his quarters in the med bay, he passed by the ER and looked into the room, the lights were off but he could still see the stasis pod with Sideswipe's body within it, First Aid had started putting his head back together earlier as Ratchet could see Sideswipe's lower jaw already attached to his neck. Something seemed off however, it looked like something was moving next to the pod. He moved closer to get a better look, a big crack was over the glass of the stasis pod holding Sideswipe, to Ratchets horror it looked as if the crack grew as a shadow passed over it. Someone was trying to break the glass.

'Hey you there, stop what you are doing!' He ran into the ER and sprinted towards the shadow. The shadow noticed Ratchet and jumped into an air duct, bumping and scraping echoed through the walls of the Ark as the shadowy figure crawled away through the ducts.

Ratchet radioed Perceptor,

'Perceptor, someone tried to kill Sideswipe, I think a Decepticon may have escaped, get someone to search through the ducts, they could be anywhere in the Ark by now.

Throughout the Ark the sounds of the figure escaping through the ducts were heard, Stakeout and Seawatch were having an argument about alt modes when they both paused to listen in, Scattershot was polishing his weapons as he raised his head upon hearing the sound, Hotshot, Groove and Bluestreak had just approached the Ark when they could hear a faint scraping sound.

Soundwave could hear every word being said within the Ark, naturally the sound was easy for him to hear as well, not as easy for his minions however.

Hotspot was berating Streetwise for bullying Phaser when they heard it, whereas Hound, Lightspeed and Cosmos were all woken up from napping as they heard the scraping coming from the vents above.

Below in the Decepticons cells, Breakdown freaked out as he heard the scraping above while the other Stunticons remained quiet, Dirt boss kept complaining about the noise and pestered Longhaul to make it stop. Barricade looked around from his cell and overheard the guards, Beachcomber and Powerglide explaining to Perceptor that none of the Decepticons had escaped. Back in the Med bay Ratchet shut his optics and felt a wave of despair wash over him after receiving the info from Perceptor, that whoever tried to kill Sideswipe had to have been an Autobot.

_The Nemesis: Bridge_

Slipstream had told Thundercracker the plan to attack the Autobots and rescue Soundwave and the others. He hated the idea that the war was not yet over, that they would still have to fight, however he trusted Slipstream, she had a better motive than to just kill the Autobots, she planned to rescue their comrades, and that was enough for Thundercracker to trust her actions.

'So what happens after we rescue them?' he asked

'Simple, we destroy the Ark thus ending the Autobots lives confirming Decepticon victory'

'So then that's it? We are done the war?'

'Correct!' she said with a bright smile. 'As much as I would like to take our comrades and run, according to Soundwave, we out number them 10 to one so it would only make sense to end them rather than let them live to fight again'

Thundercracker grinned; the war would actually be over, no more fighting. He was truly excited for a battle for once. Ending the Autobots once and for all, reuniting all Decepticons, take over another planet and rebuild Cybertron. Everything will be perfect he thought, after all this perhaps he and Skywarp could sit in a bar, have a drink and look back at Megatron, Starscream and the Autobots and laugh at the silly war. Maybe he would even become famous, new sparkling's would see him on the street and run up to him for autographs, a television show could be made chronicling the Decepticons battles to destroy the evil forces of the Autobots, and he could have a lead role.

He laughed at the thought. No, things would never be that easy, maybe some other group of Cybertronians would rebel, or some sort of evil force would end their peace. Something like that always had to happen.

Dirge walked onto the bridge and headed straight for Thundercracker, Needlenose and the black and purple half jet Fireshot soon followed with worried glances.

Dirge approached Thundercracker and punched him in the face causing the blue seeker to fall on his back onto the cool smooth floor.

'You frag what the slag was that for?!'

Slipstream immediately burst with laughter from the sight of Thundercracker getting hit, she almost immediately fell on her aft from laughing too hard. Dirge clenched his fist and held Thundercracker up by the collar.

'You lied to me!'

'What? about what?'

Dirge through another fist at Thundercrackers face

'All those stories, you never told me they were just legends'

Thundercracker tried to loosen Dirges grip.

'They weren't all legends; they were all passed down from our ancestors. Some people just don't like to believe some of it since it was so long ago'

'Pfft, you should have told me that before I went around talking about Females devouring sparks, do you know how embarrassing that was? Everyone was laughing at me!'

Dirge readied another punch, Dent's already marked Thundercracker's face from the last few hits and the next would most likely knock him out. Slipstream wrapped her fingers around Dirge's wrist

'Hahah, please….hahah….please don't…heh… don't hit him Dirge' her expression turned cold 'we don't need any fighting to go on in here, besides…'

She leant closer until her head was over the coneheaded con's shoulder. She whispered into his audio receptor.

'_You know what they say about how females were able to devour sparks? Perhaps it is all truer than you realise, and perhaps we haven't actually lost that ability like most think.'_

She licked her lips intimidatingly causing Dirge to immediately back away and sprinted out of the bridge as fast as he could.

'Feh should a seen that coming' said Fireshot, the smaller jet turned to Needlenose 'Wanna get back to Pwning noobs in Fires of Deception: Novacon warfare 3?' he asked Needlenose.

'Hell yeah' Needlenose raised his fist in the air 'let's head back to my quarters before Spinister unplugs it again. He keeps saying it's wastes energy, heh idiot.'

Slipstream lent out her hand and helped Thundercracker up. He held his face where Dirge had hit him and groaned.

'I think you scared him off'

Slipstream let out another laugh 'He'll probably get over it soon enough.'

Thundercracker stared at her 'You can't actually devour other Cybertronians sparks by mental command can you?'

Slipstream winked at him 'I'm not telling, that is for you to figure out for yourself.'

Thundercracker chuckled to himself lightly 'Great'

He began to limp to the medbay.

'Yo Thundercracker?' Slipstream called 'Why are you limping, you were hit in the face '

'I don't know!'

_Grotusque and Jetfires team location, nearby the planets civilization._

The sky had turned dark, it had become nightfall during the Autobots trek through the jungle. Jazz, Cliffjumper and Wheeljack had to resort to walking on foot due to the thickness of the trees while Jetfire, Silverbolt and Grotusque flew above them.

'Just a few more minutes till we're there guys' said Grotusque as he flew in his bat dragon mode.

'Excellent' exclaimed Jetfire 'but what do we do about shelter? Is there somewhere we can rest in this village or will we be stuck powering down outside?'

Before Grotusque could answer it began to rain.

'Damn, everyone stop what you are doing, we should find some shelter before we end up rusting'

The Autobots complied and Silverbolt and Jetfire flew down with Grotusque to the other Autobots.

'There' said Grotusque pointing at a large tree with wide leave  
'A tree' stated Cliffjumper  
'Yup'  
'What about it?'  
'That is where we will be staying the night'  
'You are kidding right?' said Wheeljack 'You expect us to power down in dirt and mud and… dirt?'

Grotusque smirked 'Aww I'm sorry, does the little Autobot need a blanket to go with that free_shelter_?'

Wheeljack growled at him, he realized it sounded a lot more stupid than it should have sounded threatening.

'Both of you can it' said Jetfire 'Grotusque is right, we need somewhere to rest and I don't want to rust out here in the rain'

Cliffjumper shook, Rust? Oh Primus. He was still haunted by his incident earlier that day.

'Yeah let's just get under the tree shall we?' he said nervously

The group huddled under the large tree and Grotusque transformed to robot mode.

'I will take the first watch, get a good rest, you will need it.'

'Uh thanks' replied Jetfire.

An hour later, Jazz and Cliffjumper had powered down, Jazz sat leaning his back on the tree as he slept, his partner Cliffjumper leaned beside him, resting his head on Jazz's shoulder as he snored with his mouth wide open. Wheeljack kept getting up and moving to a different spot under the tree, he just couldn't find a comfortable position to power down. Jetfire couldn't sleep either; He leaned on the other side of the tree, arms behind his head. He watched Silverbolt who stood at the edge of the trees sheltering leaves. Jetfire figured now would be the best time to ask; he got on his feet and walked over to Silverbolt.

'Hey Bolt, are you okay?'

The Aerialbot stared at the rain; the sound of the drops vibrated against the ground and dripped down in streams from each leaf. Silverbolt appeared mesmerized by it, Jetfire wasn't surprised, such a huge change from Cybertron, compared to black oil and orange rust, the green and brown of the trees and the soothing sound of the jungle was truly a more peaceful world. Silverbolt turned to his flying companion.

'I'm fine Jetfire.'

'You don't seem fine.'

'Why do you say that?'

'You have been quiet lately; most Autobots on board have seen you moping around in the halls sometimes and the daydreaming…' Jetfire shook his head. 'There is nothing wrong with daydreaming but it is just so unlike you. What is with you Silverbolt?

Silverbolt looked back Jetfire, his optics filled with sadness.

'What is with me?'

Jetfire nodded 'Yes, why are you acting this way?'

'I guess that's because…' he paused

'Because I am still living, Jetfire'

_Ark Medbay: 2:30 am_

Ratchet knew Sideswipes assassin would return, it was only a matter of time. He was hidden, hidden somewhere they would least suspect in the ER. Perceptor He had waited for hours, he knew that the shadowy figure would return to finish the job, And surely enough, it did, the figure was hard to see from Ratchet's position while the lights were off, but there was no mistake, that was the same shadow that tried to break the glass of Sideswipes stasis pod. The figure tried hacking away at the glass with a club. Ratchet watched silently as the figure shattered the glass, turning off all life support in the machine. Just as planned, Ratchet burst from the stasis pod and strangled the shadowy figure's slender neck. Earlier he had Fixit move Sideswipes body to another stasis pod in the ward and covered it with spare parts, Ratchet had been hidden inside Sideswipes original stasis pod for ours waiting for the right moment, and that moment was now.

'Fixit, the lights NOW!'

Fixit heard the signal and turned on all power in the med bay. The bright burst of light revealed who the assassin was.

Ratchet fell back in shock.

'What? No you… Why would you do this? But I thought… WHY?'


	7. Tried to kill them

I would like to note that this chapter features a few extra characters. Just for the sake of the reader, I would like to point out that some of these characters are not to be focused on too much, with my near obsession of keeping away from "genericons or bots" and using almost all named characters. some of the characters, such as the guards, shouldn't be seen as a part of the main cast (Jetfire, Silverbolt, Jazz, CJ etc) in Jetfires story. Not yet anyways, most if not all the characters featured will have a larger roll in the future (some later than others). Also this chapter is the longest one yet which is something to mention I guess, It was going to end with a scene with the Monsterbots and a another cliffhanger with Ironhide and Warpath... but I feel like that would be going a bit too far. You'll see them next chapter though. promise.

* * *

_Cybertron: Shockwaves hidden laboratory…_

Hardshell was unsure of Shockwaves decision, then again as long as he wasn't slagged in the process it didn't concern him. What bothered him however was that these test subjects still hadn't seen the light of day. Kickback looked rather excited, it appeared that to him releasing these experiments would be interesting. For Hardshell however, releasing these experiments would be suicide. The two Insecticons stood at either side of two large tanks, Shockwave had told them that the only way to open both tanks would be to pull a lever simultaneously; Shockwave always loved the whole simultaneous lever pull, thought Hardshell.

'Are you ready Kickback?' he asked

'Why of course!' he said with a grin

The two pulled the levers, at first nothing happened. Then after a few seconds, steam began to poor out of the tanks. As if the dead were walking through a graveyard, two large Insecticons had stepped out of the tanks and into the steamy room, both were about Megatrons height one was brown and red with a bulky body and pincers sticking out of his back, the other was thinner, with a green body and a large orange head, wings sprouted from his back.

Hardshell whistled as he stared at his larger Insecticon compatriots. He turned on his communicator and radioed Shockwave.

'Not bad boss, not bad at all'

'_We have no time for admiration Hardshell'_radioed an impatient Shockwave_'I need you to escort them to my position and help us out of this rubble'_

'Will do' He turned to the two test subjects, their gazes were emotionless. Their personalities had probably not set in thought Hardshell.

These Insecticons weren't the same as he or Kickback, and they were far more different from the lesser Insecticons. After the apparent success from Shockwaves self-test to fuse insecticon with Cybertronian, He had begun to create his own Insecticons the same way as he had done to Grimlock and the Dinobots. Hardshell naturally felt uneasy, seeing what Shockwave had done to his race, of course his inner scientist felt a wave of pleasure whenever he were to exercise a test.

'Chop Shop, Venom.' He said addressing the Brown and Green Insecticons respectively.

'Let us go serve your creator, and show the remaining Autobots of this planet, what it means to fight against the Insecticon hive!'

Expecting a cheer, Hardshell felt embarrassed when all the Insecticons responded with were nods. He shrugged and transformed to his armoured beetle mode. The Deluxe Insecticons did the same, Chop Shop turning into a stag beetle himself, while Venom transformed into a Cicada like creature.

'_Hardshell'_contacted Shockwave '_before you go, I need you to wait for Kickback, He needs to pick something up for me'_

'And what might that be?'

Before he got a response, Shockwave had already contacted Kickback

'_Kickback'_

'Yes sir?'

'_I need you to pick up some energon and my blast cannon, or the Sling Shock as Sharpshot used to call it'_

Back underneath the crater created by Bruticus, Shockwave spoke to Kickback; He looked over at Starscream who was examining Bruticus's eye socket. Shockwave lowered his voice.

'I need it, as there is an armed nuisance here that must be terminated.'

'_I gotcha Shockwave, will do'_Kickback closed the connection.

Starscream wandered over to Shockwave.

'What were you just saying to those buffoons?'

'Just to give us some extra armaments for our assault on the Dinobots'

Starscream grinned 'Excellent Shockwave, those savages won't know what hit them'

Starscream walked back towards Bruticus's body, unknown to the fact that Shockwave was planning to terminate him, and that by the time the Insecticons arrive, Shockwave would have every mean of doing so.

* * *

_The Arks prison block_

Powerglide waved back at Scattershot and Streetwise as he and Beachcomber went up the lift.

'Don't let them give you any trouble boys!'

'Don't worry' assured Scattershot 'They'll behave themselves'

He looked over at Barricades cell

'Won't they?'

'Blow it out of your exhaust port' replied the small black robot

Scattershot ignored him and turned to Streetwise.

'Hey kid, I thought it was Afterburners shift'

The red and white scout gave an annoyed look

'Hotspot pulled some strings with Perceptor; put me on guard duty as some kind of punishment for talking down one of the Astros'

He crossed his arms and stared at one of the cells.

'If you tell me, I am sick of all these smaller groups and teams, the Aerialbots, Protectobots, Astro squad, Rescue Patrol, It is no different from the caste system we had before the war'

Streetwise kicked Ramjets cell.

'Hey watch it Autobrain'

He ignored the Seeker and continued

'I hate how Hotspot keeps treating me like some kid, I might as well leave the Protectobots y'know? First Aid is probably thinking that leaving the group was the best thing that ever happened to him, being Ratchets right hand medic and all. '

Scattershot shrugged and stared at the young Protectobot.

'Look kid…'

Streetwise glared at him

'Er I mean Streetwise, if you wann ta leave the group, just ask your boss, Hotspot is the understandin type after all. But even then, do you have any idea what leaving the group would accomplish? Bein a part of a group only gives you opportunities to work together with yer partners, there is a chance ya may just get yourself killed if you end up going solo'

Scattershot chuckled 'You wouldn't believe how many times my Technobots had to haul me out of a mess.'

Streetwise shrugged, just as he opened his mouth he heard a faint screeching sound, similar to the screeching of metal on metal in the ducts, however this sounded somewhat different.

Scattershot heard it too, he looked over to the source of the screeching, it came from the hole in the side of the ship that was blown open by Air Raids missiles, it was still barely blocked off, Huffer was working on constructing a cover for the hole as he covered his audio receptors to block out the sound. It obviously wasn't the best looking cover as only a few metal planks kept it shut however there was still enough room for a small creature to get in the ship, not that Huffer cared considering it was only the cell block.

As the two bots raised their weapons, the screeching grew louder. Decepticons trying to catch a stasis nap covered their audio receptors. Scattershot walked over to the hole and peered through. Suddenly several large bats flew through the hole, Scattershot fell on his back in shock, almost landing on Huffer in the process, while Streetwise started blasting the bats until the majority of them either flew out of the Ark or had stuck themselves to the ceiling.

Streetwise jogged over to Scattershot

'You okay man?' he said helping him up

'Yeah I'm a'right'

'Gee I'm fine too thanks for asking' said Huffer as he brushed himself off.

'Shut up Huffer' responded Streetwise.'

Scattershot looked over at one of the cells, it was empty.

'What in tar nation?'

'What?'

'Huffer, tell me there wasn't anyone in that cell before the bats came in'

Huffer looked over at the cell in question

'Wasn't that one of the Casseticon's cells? I thought Soundwave took all his tapes.'

Scattershot shook his head 'Naw he left one behind.'

Streetwise shot him a confused glance 'Well a tape can't just sprout legs and be off can it?'

Scattershot sighed 'Ah I'm probably just a little jumpy from the bats, probably just imagining things.'

Outside the Ark, Ratbat was free, he flew through the night with glee, Finally after all these years of being trapped within that boars chest, he finally had a real body, a mangy one he admitted, but it still had flight. He was able to escape the Ark as the bats flew in, scanning one from his cassette mode was an easy process, thankfully he retained his small size allowing him to squeeze through the bars with ease and join the flock of bats. Now he just needed to figure out what to do next, rejoin the Decepticons perhaps, or maybe the Autobots would let him stay. He decided not to think about it, for now he would embrace his freedom.

* * *

_Up in the Arks medbay…_

'Why are you doing this? You told me to save him… I…I don't understand'

'I told you to do your best to save him, not to leave him like this.'

Ratchet couldn't wrap his mind around it, Arcee loved her fellow Autobots, she was the last Autobot Ratchet would ever expect to hurt one of her own.

'I **did**try my best to save him, I just couldn't manage to do it, believe me Arcee if there was anything else I could do to save him I swear, I would do it, but the way he is now..'

Arcee cocked her gun at him.

'Enough Ratchet, you left Sideswipe alive, you told me that anything you tried could have killed him, so why isn't he already dead, why not just put him out of his misery while he is left like this?'

Fixit had radioed Ratchet from outside the ER

'Ratchet, we have a problem out here, can you-'

Ratchet ignored him and turned off his communicator

'Damn it Arcee what do you expect me to do, splatter his brain module with a hammer? You can tell me to do my best to save him, to take all risks to save his life, but if you tell me to kill him in cold blood, then by Primus, I will not stand for it'

Arcee looked as if she were going to cry

'Please Ratchet, why leave him in this state, why won't you let him join the allspark with the rest of the Autobots that have died in the war'

First Aid had entered the room and pointed an assault rifle at Arcee.

'That's because he doesn't believe in the allspark' he looked over at Ratchet 'isn't that true Ratchet?'

Ratchet nodded his head. Arcee turned from Ratchet, to First Aid and back again.

'How can you even think that Ratchet, everyone who had died in this war, Zeta Prime, Sunstreaker, even Bumblebee, what do you expect happened to them all after they died?'

For a split second, Ratchet could have sworn he had heard the sound of a gunshot.

'When you die, you die…' Ratchets voice sounded grim 'there is nothing more to it'

Arcee shook her head,

'Enough, Ratchet, if death is what you say it is, then what difference would it make if you were to end his life now'

Ratchet brought his hand up to his face and thought to himself, Is Arcee right? Sideswipe was barely alive as he already was; would pulling the plug be the right thing to do? It **would** save energon to turn off the life support, and it wouldn't make a difference for Sideswipe considering the condition he is in now.

'Don't listen to her Ratchet' said First Aid 'If you kill him now, how would you be able to live with yourself knowing that you were the one that ended Sideswipes life? What would Bumblebee want?' He shook his head 'No, what would **Optimus** want?'

Ratchet was left at a crossroad, was Sideswipes life worth it? Could it be that considering the state he was in already, Sideswipe might as well have been already dead? True to what First Aid said, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, and if Optimus was here, he would never forgive Ratchet for forcing Sideswipe to fall into deaths cold embrace.

But what was death? Ratchet had admitted to being an Atheist, something Optimus would always argue with him about. He didn't believe in Primus, or the thirteen, or even the allspark, the only thing that left that small belief, that small part of his conscious that said "what if" - was the Matrix of leadership. He remembered when Optimus returned to the surface. Ratchet had returned to base after Omega had shut down his systems, When Optimus had returned from the core of Cybertron and told the story of how the core "spoke" to him, Ratchet had thought it to be a joke. That was, until Optimus had shown him the Matrix. He, Perceptor, and even Jetfire had inspected the darned thing dozens of times yet they couldn't figure out what material it was. That was one mystery; the other was what the matrix did to Primes body.

The months that followed Optimus' return from the core, the Autobot leader would spend nights screaming in pain. Each morning, his body would look somewhat different. The Large wheels he held on his shoulders had seemingly shrunk and tucked themselves into his lower back; his smooth and streamlined truck mode had morphed into a bigger and bulkier **fist**of an alt mode.

What was also strange was the fact that Optimus would never notice the changes to his body, Ratchet would ask about his wider head whereas Prime would respond with, "It wasn't always like that?" But what may have been the strangest detail about what the matrix did to Prime's body, was apparent to any Cybertronian. Primes body matched the description of their god Primus right down to the last detail.

It had always boggled his mind how it worked, but it would still take a lot more to make him believe in Primus.

Despite all this, he felt like Arcee was right, and he knew why.

'Arcee, you are using Sparkmeal Psychology on me'

First-Aid looked at Ratchet with a confused glance

'The Primal instinct most male Cybertronians have towards females that causes them to do whatever the female wishes'

Arcee Frowned. 'Ratchet, that is sick. Why would I give you the urge to… to give me your spark'

First aid tilted his head 'Wait what?'

'I will tell you later First Aid' Ratchet assured

Arcee frowned at him. 'I am not using Sparkmeal Psycology Ratchet. I am telling you what the right thing is. You can do the right thing Ratchet, just let him go.'

He looked at his options, was Arcee right? Would ending Sideswipes life really allow him to join with the Allspark? He couldn't decide he needed a third opinion. He raised his hand to his head.

'Fixit, I need you to come in here.'

He waited. No answer

'Fixit?'

He raised his hands above his head and slowly walked past Arcee and First Aid, Arcee kept her weapon raised at him just as First Aid pointed his weapon at her. He opened the entrance to the ER and turned his head from one side of the Med bay to the other; Fixit was nowhere to be seen. He felt a cold hand wrap around his ankle and looked down.

To his shock, Fixit was lying face down on the ground; smoke breathed out of a large hole in his back.

'FIXIT!'

Fixit's attacker stepped into Ratchets view.

Air Raid pointed a Riot cannon at Ratchet.

'Which one tried to kill Sideswipe' he said motioning to Arcee and First Aid

'Arcee'

Air Raid pistol whipped Ratchet, knocking him aside and walked into the ER. The two Autobots stared at him with confusion.

'Air Raid?' said Arcee with a quizzical look 'What are you-'

Air Raid aimed the Riot Cannon at Arcee and opened fire; each blast took off chunks of her armor causing sparks and energon to fly from her wounds. Her eyes flickered before dimming as she fell to the energon stained floor with a clang, her shocked expression had remained on her face.

Air Raid Stop!' First Aid screamed as he leapt onto the Aerialbot's back.

The larger Aerialbot warrior threw the medic against the wall and aimed his riot cannon at the motionless Arcee's head.

'This is what you deserve for trying to kill your friend, traitor'

Just as he readied his cannon and prepared to fire, the whole Ark began to shake, tossing the Autobots across the room.

'What the hell's…'

Air raid looked down and realized that he was standing on the ceiling; the Ark had somehow been turned upside down.

* * *

_Jetfires team: Now_

Grotusque had told Jetfire to let him settle things; they had reached the fence that surrounded the village. It was large, made up of massive wooden spikes that made it impossible to look into the civilization it hid. The entrance to the village was guarded by two robots; one was mainly yellow with purple legs and a purple backpack. The other was bulkier with a purple body, yellow legs, a yellow jaw shaped chest plate, and a long purple backpack that rose over his head. Grotusque appeared to be arguing with the two, Jetfire wasn't certain if this was a bad thing, or if arguments were just a part of this planets culture, most likely a bad thing. However this was the last thing on Jetfires mind, the conversation he had with Silverbolt last night had kept him thinking.

* * *

_Last Night_

Jetfire stared at him; he found it harder to read Silverbolt than back during their flight training days. Back then Silverbolt was a coward, someone who was afraid of doing something that was the equivalent to walking for them. But now Silverbolt was different, far different.

'What did you say?' asked Jetfire

'I said that it's because I am still living'

Jetfire lifted his hand to his head; he blinked as he tried to comprehend what his friend was talking about.

'You… want to die?'

Silverbolt looked back at the rain drops

'See the way you say it, it's as if I am crazy, or some sort of Emotional wreck'  
'Silverbolt…'  
'But I'm not, and I **don't **want to die'  
'Then what-'

Silverbolt craned his head back to Jetfire

'Because we ran away Jetfire, We ran away and left everything behind us'

_Now_

'Jetfire!' Shouted Grotusque

He waved him over impatiently. Jetfire noticed and sprinted over to the Monsterbot, The two guards were bigger up close. The purple one was smiling rather oddly, while the other looked uninterested by Jetfire.

'Is anything wrong?' he asked

Grotusque looked at him with a fake smile

'Oh no nothing, these guys just wanted to confirm that you weren't a part of a faction of any kind, correct?'

Grotusque was nodding at him frantically. Jetfire understood and nodded back.

'Correct, me and my friend's here…' He said pointing at the others from afar 'Crash landed here and uh, are looking to tour the village'

The yellow one squinted at them; his red optics ran across the Autobots and spotted their symbols.

'What are those?' he asked skeptically

Jetfire was about to answer before Grotusque interrupted him.

'They are… ex-Autobots; they haven't bothered to remove their symbols because they er lack the necessary equipment to do so'

The yellow bot shrugged

'Good enough for me'

He nodded at the other guard; the guard nodded back and pulled a nearby lever. The large wooden door that made up the entrance began to separate revealing the village inside. It was much smaller than Jetfire would have expected, the village was really more of an RV lot for crashed ships, better than making a house out of wood, Jetfire mused. There were several robots and animals walking about the village, he figured the creatures were Cybertronian as well but he wasn't ready to speak to one in a mode yet, just in case they turned out to be a pet. The other four Autobots rushed up to see for themselves.

'Amazing' said Wheeljack 'A whole civilization with Cybertronians with these beast modes.'

Cliffjumper whispered to Wheeljack 'Yeah? Not much more than a shanty town made out of vegetables if you asked me'

Grotusque raised his arms into the air,

'Yes! See I told you guys I could get you in, now then—'

He paused for a moment and raised his index finger to the side of his head.

'Yeah what do you want Repugnus?'

He held out a finger to tell the Autobots to wait.

'Alright got it'

Grotusque transformed to dragon-bat mode and flew above them

'Sorry guys, Repugnus wants me back, we're leaving for another area soon.'

Jazz cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted up at the flying Monsterbot

'Hey now, you don't have to go and leave us all on our own'

* * *

_Last night_

'We didn't have to leave Cybertron Jetfire, if Optimus hadn't rid the core with Dark energon, then we wouldn't be out here on this stupid planet'

'What? You **wanted** Cybertron to be corrupted with Dark energon? Are you out of out of your mind? If the Decepticons still had control of the planets core, then we would all be scrap by now'

'That isn't the point Jetfire, Optimus had us run away from everything we strived to protect, I… **We** aren't supposed to be here, we should be fighting to our last breath back on Cybertron, not scurrying around on this dirty planet!'

'Silverbolt, I know you are upset but what Optimus did was necessary, Cybertron won't be left like that forever, and what's the point of dying if it accomplishes nothing?'

'Jetfire haven't you ever heard the phrase… 'Better to fight and die than live with the knowledge that you ran?'

Jetfire was about to speak but stopped himself upon realizing what Silverbolt said

'… you quoted that from Fisitron'

'Yeah, so what?'

'You do know that Fisitron left Cybertron a long time ago, that quote is also one of his Fisitronisms so it should be taken with a grain of salt. Even he knew that it would be wisest to leave the planet, that's because it **was** necessary; you have no reason to say it wasn't.'

Jetfire paused and turned around; Jazz and Cliffjumper were still in stasis naps. Wheeljack appeared to be too, however Jetfire couldn't shake the feeling he was only pretending.

'That reminds me, why didn't you just stay behind yourself Silverbolt?'

_Now_

Wheeljack spoke to the guard

'Eh look mister…'

'Snarler'

Wheeljack chuckled to himself 'Okay mister Snarler, Our Guide has run off would either of you care to help us get around here?'

Jazz looked over at the smiling purple one

'Yeah and particularly not Smiles over here', he said thumbing towards the silent bot.

'His name is Carnivac, and yeah, I know someone who can help you guys'

Snarler smiled upon realizing who would be perfect to guide them.

* * *

_Within the village_

Two 'bots were in an argument, one was mainly grey with a yellow chest and a red face, the other looked very similar with yellow in places where the other was grey and vice versa. Unlike the other this one however had a green face rather than red.

'Look Chainclaw, I have had it up to here with you' said the red faced one. 'I am serving under our king whether you like it or not.'

'I am Seriously worried about you Catilla, all these "missions" you have been put on, It is starting to freak me out what they are having you do.'

'We both know that you are only worried about yourself, I like my job Chainclaw, and it isn't your business how I go about it.'

'Catilla!' called Snarler

'Ah now it sounds like I have a job to do'

Catilla transformed into a mechanical saber tooth tiger like creature and sprinted off.

Chainclaw thought to himself.

I am just worried that you may come to regret it in the future.

Catilla arrived at the entrance (or exit depending on your matter of perspective) and transformed back to robot mode. The visitor's badges had caught his eye.

'Catilla, I need you to show these guys around the village.'

Catilla looked back at the badges and back to him.

'Seriously?'

Snarler let out a laugh 'Don't worry, these guys aren't Autobots anymore' he turned to his guests, eh guys?'

'Of course not' responded Jetfire almost immediately.

He glared at the others to play along.

'Er right' said Jazz 'Yeah them Autobots are a nasty group of a— savages'

Snarler turned back to Catilla, 'See? They are permitted to come in'

Catilla crossed his arms

'You **do** know what the Pred Council is having me do right? Having me guide these.. Oh I see how it is, this is a joke right?'

Snarler smiled, 'Yup, and it's a practical one, so you better get a move on'

Catilla shrugged and waved at the Autobots to follow, he then transformed and began to run into the village.

The Autobots gave confused looks to each other before transforming and driving alongside the sabre tooth.

Jetfire stared at the ships below him, they were all much smaller than the Ark, yet at the same time they held familiar designs, These ships were those that had left Cybertron during the great Exodus, these were Autobot ships, so why weren't other Autobots allowed to stay?

* * *

_Last night_

'Look Jetfire, you never classified yourself as an Aerialbot, but you should at least know that the Aerialbots are close, we had a sense of honor so to speak. At least I thought we did.

He sat down and leant on the tree, he tried to look up at the stars through the tree branches; however it had been too cloudy that night. Silverbolt continued

'When Optimus announced that we would leave on a mass exodus, I wrote a speech for my troops. As I finished writing it I walked down the hall and heard a few them talking… they said that they were really going to leave Cybertron. The more I overheard, the more my spark sunk, Not a single one of them was willing to stay and fight, It was as if none of them had any reason to stay, as if they had no honor at all'

Jetfire sat down beside Silverbolt, he stared at him intently. As Silverbolt paused, to Jetfire it was as if the whole universe had stopped talking. Even the raindrops sounded lighter compared to Silverbolt's voice.

'I could hear them all Jetfire, some were already packing their things. It was as if I had lost all hope for my Aerialbots… only one wanted to stay and fight…'

Jetfire knew who it was from the tone of Silverbolts voice.

'Air Raid'

Silverbolt nodded 'Yeah, Air Raid was starting a commotion with the others, threatened them with a gun too. I felt proud that at least **one **of my brothers weren't complete cowards, but that all changed when Optimus came in… the minute I saw his face… I knew Air Raid would change'

'And he did?'

'Of course he did. He was consulted by Optimus Freaking Prime, he can get almost any Autobot to do anything just by talking to him and calling them "Old Friend"'

'So you didn't say anything?'

'How could I? I led an army Jetfire, and each and every one of them wanted to leave. How do you expect me to talk back to Optimus Prime in front of them? How would they have seen me if I said I wanted to stay?'

He placed his head in his hands.

'It isn't like I can do anything about it now…' I led them all to their deaths…

Jetfire put a hand on his shoulder 'Look mate, they sacrificed themselves to save the Ark along with many of the other Autobots, besides we still have Air Raid as well as—'

Silverbolt slapped Jetfires hand away

'No Jetfire, what I am trying to say is they died following **my** orders that I tried to kill them with'

* * *

_Now_

'And here is our workshop' said Catilla

The place looked primitive to Wheeljack, but a workshop is a workshop he thought.

The room was full of equipment; most of it looked like junk to the average bot. However Wheeljack knew otherwise the difference between junk and scientific marvel. Inside the workshop was a lone Bot, He had a grey torso and a blue visor with a grey faceplate and helmet which featured light blue horns sticking out of either side, quite similar to Cliffjumper really. His legs were light blue and he had a red and blue backpack. He was tinkering around on some sort of work station.

'Pincher, why don't you tell these guys what you are working on'

He didn't answer…

'Pincher?'

The Grey bot continued to work without listening.

Catilla turned back to the Autobots

'Yeah this guy is kind of a weirdo, we should probably just move on eh?'

Wheeljack let out a high pitched scream. The others held their audio receptors and stared at him.

'What?!' Screamed Jazz

Wheeljack ignored him and ran over beside Pincher, he pointed at Pinchers project.

'Is that a 20 megavolt stun rifle with inner laser torch compatibility?' he asked with excitement.

Pincher turned to him, shocked.

Catilla rolled his eyes 'Pincher, you know "his majesty" only allows bladed weapons, so throw that thing away with the others and get to work on the stuff we are going to use'

Pincher reached across the table for a pair of katana like blades that glowed an ominous green. Wheeljack grabbed Pinchers wrist. 'Ah ignore him and answer the question, is that what I said it was?'

Pincher flinched

'Y-yes it is, I am surprised you recognize it.'

'How can I **not** recognize it, you know who I am? I am Wheel- wait for it, **JACK, **only the top Mechanical Engineer on Cybertron thank you very much.' He said taking a bow.

Pincher tilted his head 'Wheeljack?'

'Yup, one and only'

'Never heard of you'

Wheeljack slammed the work table with the palm of his hand.

'WHAT?!'

* * *

_Last night_

'You heard me Wheeljack.'

Wheeljack had overheard what was being said; only now had he spoken up.

'You sent your men into battle knowing they would die?!'

'Wheeljack, calm down, let Silverbolt Speak'

'Shut it Jetfire; don't tell me you are on this guy's side' snapped Wheeljack

'Just let him try and explain himself first, **then** we can judge him'

'No' said Silverbolt 'Judge me all you want, I am as disgusted with myself as you are now, During Megatrons attack on the Ark launch, before Metroplex was awakened, I led the Aerialbots out to battle, knowing that they would be escaping on the Ark rather than dying in battle. I sent them on full on assaults; they thought they were doing the right thing, in reality they were flying straight to their deaths. It wasn't until I myself was shot down did the slaughter stop.'

He rubbed his forehead

'And then there was the Ark attack, only ten fliers are still alive now, **only ten!'**

Wheeljack shook his head 'You sick piece of slag'

'I— I just wanted them to die honourably, I realized that I was wrong and… **I tried to kill myself Wheeljack!**, I couldn't take it, I just…'

Wheeljack let out a sigh and lied back down 'Look kid, I didn't hear anything tonight alright? Sending your troops on a full on assault is a crappy strategy given the odds, but it was a strategy, it worked, the Decepticons were repelled. I won't tell anyone what you did, and I doubt Jetfire will either, g'night'

Jetfire nodded. 'Your secret is safe Silverbolt'

Silverbolt dug his face into his crossed arms 'It doesn't make me feel any better'

Jetfire put his hand on Silverbolts shoulder again, this time no reaction.

'Look Silverbolt, things will be made right, you aren't the only one that wanted to die fighting'

Silverbolt stared at him 'Really?'

Jetfire smiled, 'Of course, two of them are in a stasis nap right over there' he said pointing at Jazz and Cliffjumper.

Silverbolt let out a soft laugh

'You see Silverbolt, everything's fine, we will return to Cybertron one day, and your er.. Honour will return.'

Silverbolt stared at the ground; a small grin came over his face.

'Hey Jetfire, thanks for… this. It really means a lot to me y'know? Just letting it all out.'

'It's my pleasure Silverbolt, I am willing to help anytime'

'You know Jetfire? You're an even better smooth talker than Optimus.'

'Heh… but I didn't…'

'In fact, you have become a pretty damn good leader for us'

Jetfire cringed, Oh no he thought, not this again, he decided to change the subject.

'Hey did you really say Optimus Freaking Prime earlier?'

'Heh yeah I guess I did'

Jetfire broke into laughter, Silverbolt soon followed. Before they knew it, the rain had stopped and the sun had been rising, their laughter echoed throughout the forest. Jetfire didn't care who could hear them, they both needed this.

* * *

_Now_

The Autobots followed their guide from out of the workshop awkwardly; Catilla was the first to speak.

'You sure your friend will be alright staying back there?' asked Catilla

'Oh yeah' assured Cliffjumper 'It would probably be best to leave Wheeljack and let him rant.'

'Poor guy.' said Jazz 'having to hear Wheeljack rant about, himself, it's bound to be hell.'

'Catilla' said Jetfire 'It's Catilla right? Look we really just need meet with whoevers in charge here, so if you could please just…'

Catilla turned around and frowned at him.

'Our king is usually too busy around this time; you will probably have to make an appointment if you want to see them'

King… thought Jazz, what kind of bot called themselves a king

Jazz's trail of thought was broken as a scream came from around the corner of one of the ships.

They raced over to see in the distance, a trio of larger bots kicking around a scrawny yellow and white robot on the ground. His friends, a stout red and grey elderly looking bot, and a black and gold fembot watched in shock.

'Whassamatta Brimstone?' said a green and black long shouldered bot with a red Mohawk shaped helmet. "You're a body guard aint ya? Why don't you try guarding your body?' The bot kicked him in the chest another time

Brimstone attempted to transform. The three bots on top of him began to punch and grab at him, the blue faced, orange bot with green limbs and an odd mustache shaped panel above his mouth got his hand caught in Brimstones body as two panels clamped together.

'Little punk, you trying to chop off my fragging hand?' The mustachioed bot cursed as he punched the transforming bot in the face just as the head tucked itself in. The bot pulled his other hand out of Brimstones tight panelling and moved each joint seeing if all worked properly.

'Your hand alright Stranglehold?' asked the red Mohawked bot

He rolled his hand into a fist into and grinned, 'Relax I've been through worse, now then…' Stranglehold looked down at the partially transformed robot/pterodactyl and smiled. 'Why don't we do something about all that squirming.'

As he reached down towards the beaten bot, Brimstones fembot friend ran up and began wailing on Stranglehold.

'Air Razor No!' cried the elderly bot

Air Razor ignored him and continued to attack the larger bot. 'You, Leave him alone!' she screamed as she threw another punch.

Stranglehold stared down at her and grabbed her by the waist

'Haha well now that's cute, why don't you ditch this old man and come with us after this is done eh?' He held her closer; Air Razor could feel the bots breath on her neck and pushed him away in disgust.

Brimstone fully in Pterodactyl mode flapped his wings to lift himself off the ground.

'Octopunch.' said the Mohawked bot 'His punishment isn't done yet'

The third of the trio transformed into an orange and red crab mode. A tentacle slithered out of his claw and thrusted towards Brimstone, catching the pterodactyl and slamming him back to the ground.

'You think you're better than us because you can fly eh? Let's see what happens when we clip those wings o' yours' said the Mohawked bot.

Brimstone shuddered; the village didn't have "replacement wings" or spare parts. Losing his wings would mean the end of his ability to fly, no longer would he be able to fly above the green canopies to escape the harsh reality that was on this planet. What would his friend Air Razor think when he would no longer be able to soar with her? He just couldn't live without it.

'dnttkethm'

The Mohawked bot leaned in and cupped his hand around his ear.

'I'm sorry, what was that?'

'Isddnttkthm'

'One more time please?'

'I SAID DON'T TAKE THEM, PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY WINGS!' he screamed

'Oh I am sorry, but it really is your fault that it had to come to this.'

'NO, PLEASE I WILL DO ANYTHING'

'Octopunch lets clip them'

'NO…'

Octopunch wrapped his claws around Brimstones wings and clamped them down. As metal and tissue squeezed together, a sickening crunch echoed around throughout the area.'

'You hear that?' whispered Stranglehold to Air Razor 'That's the sound of your friends wings snapping off' Air Razor shut her eyes tight, but she could still hear the screams of her partner reverberating through her skull.

The 4 Autobots and their guide stood and watched. Jetfire turned to Catilla

'We have to do something Catilla; don't you know those Frag Offs?'

Catilla stood there emotionless. 'This is simply how the laws of this planet work, survival of the fittest, my friends, survival of the fittest'

Cliffjumper transformed

'I am not going to sit here and watch those Rust Buckets do… that to that bot' he yelled as he sped ahead.

Silverbolt transformed as well

'…pieces of tin'

his thrusters lit up as he flew up beside Cliffjumper

Jetfire panicked 'Silverbolt, Cliffjumper wait!'

Jazz had transformed as well, not in his usual breakdancing style however. He had just transformed rather plainly.

'Please Jazz don't tell me yo-'

However Jazz had already boosted ahead with the others

Catilla turned to Jetfire.

'You have to do something about your men, once word is heard about their interference, their freedom, or more likely their lives, will be lost.'

'What? is there anything we can do?'

'Well in the end it will all be determined on whether you are found guilty by the king himself.'

'And this king is?'

Catilla paused and squinted at Jazz, Cliffjumper and Silverbolt. They were nearing Brimstone and the trio when he noticed the crowd begin to spread. A tall figure stepped towards the scene; Octopunch had transformed and backed off. Stranglehold disappeared into the crowd leaving Air Razor behind.

'Where are you two going?!' screamed the Mohawk bot.

'Fine I'll do it myself' the bot transformed into an orange and green lizard and began biting down on Brimstones wing, it was far more effective than Octopunch's claws, however to Brimstone, it didn't make a difference. He could no longer feel his wing after it had snapped off. An oily tear ran down the side of his face upon seeing his wing laid out in front of him.

'Now it's time for wing two.' as the lizard said this, a shadow came over him, he looked up in horror to see his king standing before him. Frozen in fear all he could whimper was..

'Razorclaw…'

The large golden bot stood majestically. He pointed at the lizard and the Pterodactyl on top of each other and addressed three other bots that had followed him out.

'Cindersaur, Flamefeather, Sparkstalker. Obliterate'

The three bots transformed into a red reptilian looking monster, a Bipedal Bird looking creature and a red Bipedal insectoid creature. The three opened their mouths and shot a flurry of Pink and black flames. The flames engulfed the one winged Brimstone and the Lizard entirely; their screams were heard throughout the small village, civilian's covered their eyes in disgust. Jazz and Cliffjumper swerved to a halt as Silverbolt transformed to robot mode, sliding on the ground as he landed on his feet. All three terrified from what they witnessed.

Air Razor covered her mouth to hold in a scream. Brimstones body was a mere pile of ash, nothing remained of the Pterodactyl. The Lizard's corpse was smouldering black, his head had broken off from the singed body and laid on the dirt floor, the Lizards mouth was wide open, as if still in mid scream.

Jetfire wondered, was the rest of the universe really as dirty as Cybertron was? Was there no other planet that has a golden age, where a civilization could live in harmony? His question was apparently answered this day when a bot was incinerated. This world is not where they need to be, this is not the place Optimus Prime had envisioned them to be. There was no freedom here, only Survival of the fittest.


	8. Where the death option comes in

Grotusque flew towards the ship; he didn't mind moving to another location, he was more worried about what might happen to the Autobots. They knew little about the planet, Repugnus barely filled them in about it as much as he should have and it could very well have become the death of them. They could probably hold their own against Razorclaw and the others he thought, still their chances aren't the best.

As he arrived in front of the ship he transformed to robot mode and landed on his feet, he kicked a stone away and wandered over to the access terminal near the entrance. "Please enter key phrase" He tapped in the phrase and smiled "No job is too disgusting to disgust me", Repugnus' "catchphrase" so to speak. What he found was so hilarious about it was that it was true; the Monsterbots would do any job really. A team that would do the jobs that even the wreckers wouldn't do, now **that's** classy.

He entered the ship and sprinted to the control room. Repugnus and Doublecross were waiting for him.

Repugnus was sitting in the command chair; his right leg was over his other while his left index finger tapped the arm of the chair. He spoke to Grotusque without looking back.

'You're late, I sent you like 50 messages, what the #$% took you so long?'

Grotusque scurried to his chair and slouched over the control terminal.

'Sorry man, I got caught up with the Autobots; the guards wouldn't let them in till I had them convinced they were neutrals' He let out a laugh 'those idiots will believe anything eh?'

Repugnus ignored him 'Doublecross, current energon levels'

'Seventy two percent, strange I thought we had more than that' he scratched his head 'well it should be enough to get us to another energon hotspot.'

'Excellent' He turned to Grotusque 'Where **is** our target hotspot?'

Grotusque looked down at his terminal and hovered his hands over the keys. He stared at the keyboard as he tapped in the data, the monitor glowed to life as several red dots appeared on a blue map of the planet.

'Says here the closest one is not too far from the Autobots "Ark"'

Grotusque clicked a few buttons on the arm of his command chair and a foot rest popped out of the floor below. He gave his organic muscles a stretch and relaxed his body, he rested his arms behind his head while propping his legs onto the footrest.

'Aight then, let's take off'

Doublecross pressed a few keys and pulled back a lever. He turned back to Repugnus

'Takeoff in 6 seconds… 5…4…'

The ship shook as thrusters scorched the ground below while smoke moved through the trees.

Repugnus was unsure why, but these 6 seconds seemed longer to him. He felt like something, somehow, was wrong.

'3…2…1 annnd we have liftoff!'

The ship rose from the ground and thrusted towards the sky. Doublecross pulled on the controls turning the ship back at a 180 degrees angle. He left it at Autopilot and spun his chair around to face Repugnus.

'So boss, after this next batch of Energon, does this mean we can finally head back to Cybertron?'

Grotusque answered for Repugnus 'didn't the Autobots tell you? Cybertron is dead, there isn't anywhere we **can **go anymore.'

Doublecross leapt out of his chair. 'What? Why didn't anyone tell me this, isn't tjis like… really big and freaky terrible news?'

Grotusque chuckled 'Look, your other head was probably told before you last changed to beast mode and didn't bother telling you'

Grotusque thought Doublecross's condition was hilarious; it would be seen as disturbing for most but then again, Grotusque could find anything funny. Doublecross had two separate minds, when in his twin headed dragon mode, both minds would be active, in robot mode however, one mind would rest while the other would be the one to take control, unfortunately the mind that would take control would be random each time.

'Both of you shut up'

The two Monsterbots looked up at their leader. Repugnus looked to either side and cupped his hand around his ear.

'You guys hear that?'

Doublecross tilted his head 'Hear what?'

'It's… a dripping sound—a dripping followed by a sizzling'

Grotusque lowered his head to listen.

'I think it's coming from the med bay' he replied

Repugnus jumped out of his chair and transformed to his bug monster mode.

'Well whatever it is, dripping and sizzling probably isn't a good thing. Let's go.'

He and the other Monsterbots sprinted down the halls of the ship and opened the medbay doors.

'The Dripping is louder' said Repugnus 'It is definitely coming from here'

The three stepped in the med bay, each looking for clues on what could be causing it.

Repugnus stopped

'Cliffjumper. that was the red ones name right?'

Grotusque gave him a quizzical look

'Yeah so what?'

'Which slab did we leave him on?'

'The one around that corner over there I think but—'

Repugnus ran around the corner and screamed. The two other Monsterbots ran after him and witnessed what the red and yellow bot had seen.

The slab that Cliffjumper once rested on, as well as the floor was completely melted, all that remained was a hole that dripped an orange liquid into the story below.

'You— IDIOT!' Repugnus slashed Doublecross across the face with his scythe causing the bot to fall on his back. Clutching the wound, Doublecross grabbed a nearby metal bandage and slapped it on the slash mark.

'Cliffjumper was infected by Blots corrosive slime, remember? You didn't bother cleaning up any left behind?!'

Doublecross transformed to twin dragon mode, one head pointed itself at the other head vigorously.

'He did it! I wanted to clean it but he took control, blame him not me!'

'Who cares' snarled the other head, 'It's just some flooring, we don't even need it anyway'

Repugnus wacked at Doublecross's guilty dragon head.

'That isn't what I am worried about #$%tard, I am worried about what the slime will affect below.'

The Monsterbots peered into the dripping hole. The slime had dripped down into the armory, which melted another hole on the armory floor. Below that dripped into Grotusque's room, which melted yet another hole where the slime reached its final destination. The ship's energon pump, the slime had melted a good amount of it already causing energon to leak onto some of the wirings in the ships infrastructure.

'Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn' Grotusque transformed to bat dragon mode and flew back up to the controls. Repugnus and Doublecross soon followed. Grotusque transformed to bot mode and worked the command terminal. The terminal gave a quick damage analysis before discharging some sparks and shutting off.

'Repugnus, we need to land this thing, and fast' A low rumble echoed throughout the ship as it began to shake. 'If that slime mixes with the energon then—'

The ship began to aim towards the ground below causing the Monsterbots to fall on their backs.

Repugnus rubbed the back of his neck.

'Then we're #$%ed basically'

Grotusque was flung across the room, he grabbed onto a command chair for support. The ship tilted until he was dangling off the side of the chair as if it were a tree branch. Dear Primus he thought, the ship had gone into a nosedive. He came to a sudden realization.

'Repugnus! This ship was designed with escape crafts located in each room. We should be able to activate one and get out of this mess alive.'

Repugnus was still in beast mode, He dangled from above as one of his scythes were stabbed through the ceiling.

'Then hit the switch and get us an escape craft, and remember if there isn't enough room for all of us, we leave Doublecross behind'

'Hey, we heard that' said both heads simultaneously

As the ship plummeted to the ground below, Grotusque transformed and flew to a blue switch labeled "Escape Craft Launch"

Repugnus Screamed **'Wait! Grotusque that isn't the right swi—'**

Grotutusque flipped the switch and turned back to his boss

'What? That switch said "escape craft launch" underneath it'

Grotusque turned to a plexi glass window and watched in horror as dozens of escape crafts simply fell off of the ship.

'You idiot! That switch **launches** the escape crafts, now it's impossible for us to escape. **Grotusque you idiot, you've killed us all!'**

* * *

_Earlier. Ironhide and Warpath test out their new found weaponry._

Ironhide tested the weight of a pair of red cannons; they fit on his wrists almost perfectly.

'Nice find Warpath, Nice find indeed.'

Warpath attached a new tank cannon onto his chest.

'Yeah pretty neat huh.'

Ironhide walked along the walls of the room and examined the guns.

'That's strange'

'What is?'

'All of these guns are hand held, why would a Cybertronian bother using hand held weapons when they can integrate one into their arm? A Cybertronian **did** pilot this thing after all'

'I thought you didn't mind using hand held weapons old timer' Chuckled Warpath

'Hey now I aint that old, they haven't made guns like these since before I knew how to transform. Now stand back.' Ironhide aimed his cannons toward the nearest wall 'I'm gonna see what these bad boys are capable of'

Ironhide fired two shots, each one firing a laser blast blowing open the wall.

Warpath ran up to him excitedly 'Lasers? Blam! Ever since we were forced to resort to bullets it just wasn't the same as it was with laser fire, er why were we forced to resort to bullets again?'

'To save energon Warpath, do you **ever **listen to what people tell you?'

'What was that?'

Ironhide laughed softly 'Didn't think so'

Ironhide inspected the newly formed hole where the wall used to be. Behind it was a room.

'Warpath? Come and see this.'

Warpath grabbed another blaster off the wall and followed Ironhide into the room.

'Yeah, what is it?'

'I think this is a control room o' some kind'

The room was oval shaped; In the middle of the room was a hologram projector that sported an odd greenish glow, several holographic keyboards lined around it.

Warpath scratched his head. 'So— how does it work?'

Ironhide tapped at what appeared to be an _on _switch. At first, nothing, a few seconds later however, a hologram of the planet appeared in front of them. With it, several other holograms came up, they were names.

'What in the—'

The projector instantly identified every living Cybertronian on the planet. Listed was every Autobot, Decepticon and native on the planet, with each one came a picture and location.

Warpath read the first row of names for the Cybertronians with a location marked as "_A_".

'Jetfire, Carnivac, Razorclaw, Cliffjumper, Air Razor, Catilla, Pincher, Silverbolt…etc'

Warpath turned to Ironhide, 'Looks like we weren't alone after all'

He continued and read aloud Area _B_

_ '_Perceptor, Arcee, Ratchet, Ramjet, First Aid, Hound, Blades, Barricade, Trailbreaker, Air Raid, Skydive, Scavenger, Nosecone, Huffer… etc'

Area B was the Ark

The next two Areas left them paralyzed in shock.

Area C: Hun-grr, Rippersnapper, Blot, Sinnertwin, Cut-throat, Grimlock.

Within the Jungle

Area D: Ironhide, Warpath, Fracas*(&^^/d/wr) Egnis, Tugtac, Rettilpsriah,

Their location

'What the Frag?'

Ironhide looked closer, no matter how many times he looked at it, it still didn't make sense.

Warpath looked panicked 'Okay one, why. The. HELL, is Grimlock on this list? He should be dead, evaporated by the spacebridge, and two, why are those weird names said to be here… with us…?'

Ironhide paused 'Okay one, I don't know, two it's vaporized, not "evaporated" and three, I don't know or care, it's probably just a glitch'

Warpath put himself at ease, 'Okay, okay I gotcha, just a glitch.' Warpath leant his back on a nearby wall. As he leaned, his back touched a lever which proceeded to pull itself down. The room began to fill with lights.

'Warpath, what in the pit did you just do?'

'It's not my fault this time, I swear'

The ship lifted itself out of the ground, dirt and debris fell aside as the spacecraft hovered about a kilometre above ground. The spacecraft was odd looking, it resembled an upside down nemesis only Green instead of purple.

Ironhide observed the holo-projector, as well as the list, holographic controls spawned as well as a frontal view of the ship. Ironhide let out a quiet laugh

'Well would ya look at that, we got ourselves a way to get off this rock.'

'Hah not so bad after all eh old timer?'

Ironhide nodded before looking back at the list.

'Optimus isn't here' said Warpath solemnly 'He wasn't on the list was he?'

Ironhide shook his head.

Warpath looked down.

'Well we got a ship; he could just be a few planets away.'

'Yeah I hope so kid, but first—'

He turned around and looked back through the armory.

'We should probably give that poor guy a funeral'

'Who? The corpse with the beam in his head? Why bother?'

Ironhide rubbed his optics with his index finger and thumb. It was about time Ironhide spoke his mind.

'I wouldn't expect you to understand Warpath, after all, for as long as I've known you have seen this whole war as a game'

'No I—'

'Hell you even know what happens to the cons you shoot? They die, that means they are no longer living, I think that is pretty much a given'

'Don't…'

'Y'know Warpath it's about damn time someone told you to smarten up'

'I…'

'Do you ever stop to think, that out of all the sparkling's that have died from the lack of enrgon, and all the torture from the decepticons we have had to deal with, I can't even believe people like you **enjoy **this scrap.'

'Sorr—'

'Oh don't apologize to me Warpath, apologize to all the Autobots you leave behind while you run around shooting people like a maniac.'

'….'

'What your problem is, is that you don't understand the value, of an Autobot life on the battlefie—'

'DON'T YOU DARE LECTURE ME ON LIFE AND DEATH'

Ironhide leapt back in shock.

'I had a squad Ironhide, a team of bots that looked up to me, now they're dead. They died on the Ark during the Decepticons attack. I fought alongside them and did my utmost to keep them alive, I failed boohoo, but hear me Ironhide, I would have given up myself for anyone on them, if Prime hadn't ordered me to pull your rusty hide out of the command hub, I wouldn't have to make a memorial for the young'uns. And let's be crystal, I would have rather died any—'

_List updated,_

_Area D: Repugnus, Grotusque, Doublecross, Ironhide, Warpath, Fraca—_

The Monsterbot ship nosedived into Ironhide and Warpath's spacecraft.

Both ships exploded on impact.

* * *

_Cybertron._

Finally, thought Shockwave. Light appeared through the ceiling as two Insecticons lifted the last amount of debris keeping the two cons from freedom.

'Excellent' said Starscream 'Now we can get out of… hey!' Shockwave had shoved Starscream aside; he looked up through the hole in the ceiling to see his creations Venom and Chop shop staring down at him.

'Kickback! My Blast cannon!'

The smaller insecticon squeezed between the larger ones and held the purple blaster.

Shockwave reached towards it. Thoughts and probabilities went through his head, He would kill Starscream, kill the Dinobots, reactivate his personal spacebridge, and rejoin Megatron. It was all perfect as long as AGGGGHHH

Shockwave fell back clutching his head. He felt an intense burn in his cerebral processor. He clawed his skull what little it made. He let out a soft scream. The kind of scream an insecticon makes when it dies.

'Are you okay Shockwave?'

He turned around to see Starscream with his arms crossed. Shockwave turned on his circuit dampeners and relaxed.

'Yes Starscream I am fine'

What **was **that? He thought. Only one possibility came to mind, however if that were the case… He looked up to see his 4 Insecticons aiming weapons at him.

'You will come with us unarmed' said Hardshell

Starscream clenched Shockwaves shoulder

'What is the meaning of this Shockwave?'

Before he could answer, Chop shop, Venom and Hardshell kicked Shockwave to the ground, Chop shop locked a pair of laser shackles around his creator's wrist and dragged him out of the hole.

'Shockw—' The Insecticons grabbed at Starscream, overpowering him, Venom managed to take Starscreams weapons and place a pair of laser shackles on him as well.

Kickback stared at the blast cannon, he could not remember why he brought it with him. He threw it over at an oddly shaped pile of rubble and followed his insecticon comrades.

'Dinobots will be happy for us' said Hardshell

Damn, thought Shockwave, He should have anticipated this, the Dinobots have most likely hacked his computers within his lab; they have gained control over his Insecticons, and nearly him. As the Insecticons dragged their original master to his lab, Shockwave began generating possible outcomes. All Starscream could do was scream as he was dragged by Venom.

* * *

_Jetfire and co. location_

Razorclaw stared at the burning pile of scrap before him. The civilians had made their way back to their normal lives and acted as if nothing had happened, just as he liked it.

'Alas poor Wreckloose, he just didn't know when to stop'

Cliffjumper clenched his fists 'Look man, I am expecting to hear one good reason not to scrap you or your buddies here this instant'

'Cliff, what are you doing?' said Jazz as he pulled his partner away.

Flamefeather and Cindersaur, now in robot mode snickered to each other.

'Heheh look at the size of him, he's bite sized'

Razorclaw shoed the Firecons away, and looked down at the small red Autobot.

'Why do you speak of me as such civilian?'

He noticed Cliffjumper's Autobot symbol and laughed.

'Ah I see now, you're new here aren't you?'

Jetfire raced over to his Autobot comrades and stood in front of Razorclaw, He was a lot larger than he looked 12 metres away beside Catilla. He was at least twice Jazz's size.

'Listen your, er highness, we don't mean any trouble here, our friend just has a short temper, we were wondering if you would by any chance help us get our ship back up and running, we are trying to find our way to a certain planet and well… we sort of warped to the wrong place.'

'Are you crazy?' whispered Silverbolt. 'You are trying to negotiate with him after what just happened? Do not co-operate with this bot Jetfire, he is not a friend'

'We don't have a choice Silverbolt; this could be our only chance off this planet'

Razorclaw stroked his chin

An orange and black bird like Cybertronian swooped down and transformed to robot mode.

'Razorclaw, where have you been? The meeting has already started.' The bot glared at the Autobots before looking back up at Razorclaw 'reports say that the creature tearing down the trees a mile from here has been confirmed **not** one of the Terrorcons.'

Razorclaw gently shoved the bot away

'Not now Divebomb'

Razorclaw looked back down at the Autobots,

'Okay'

Jetfire was somewhat surprised

'Really? I mean excellent, to be honest with you I thought there would have been a catch—'

'On one condition'

'Annnnd there it is' said Cliffjumper

'One of you must best me in battle' He said while pulling a sword from his back.

Cliffjumper laughed loudly. '"Best me in battle" do you have **any **idea how stupid that sounds?'

'SILENCE' Razorclaw stabbed his blade into Cliffjumper's foot causing the small bot to scream in agony

'I expect one of you to face against me as a way to show your worth and honour on this planet, you are Autobots, you are not worthy of being here… yet.'

'Okay, okay you found us out, yes we're autobots' said Jetfire 'Just tell us what your terms are and we will follow them'

'So you wish to know what happens if you are to win? Typical, if you win, then you may have my head, this planet, the energon and your ship.'

'Wait, wait, wait' interrupted Jazz. 'Our ship?'

Razorclaw chuckled 'Ah yes, did I not mention? We found your ship; I had some of my strongest men roll it over to ensure no escape'

'What?' Jetfire resisted the urge to grab Razorclaw by the neck 'How did you…?'

'Find it? Why I had my assassin scope it out for me.'

He peered over Jetfires shoulder 'A good job of it too Catilla.'

The Autobots turned around to find their guide standing behind them; his face ridden with guilt.

'But really, who constructs a ship with exits only on the top and not the bottom, not the brightest Autobots are you?'

'Well if you are so bright' said Jazz 'What's your grand scheme in turning our ship upside down?'

'To ensure no surprises of course, you see if I win, I get the head of either you or your comrades, and you are given a choice'

'And that choice is?'

'You may choose either death, or to join my army. You Autobots always call in the cavalry at the last minute when all hope seems lost. Keeping your friends indoors ensures that our battle will be won fairly. Of course, together you Autobots really are quite powerful, I want that power, and you literally fell from the sky carrying an army's worth of you.'

Cliffjumper shrugged off his wound and tried to stand tall 'That's insane, we will never join this so called system of yours.'

Razorclaw knelt down to the small bots eye level and grinned.

'That is where the "death" option comes in'

Jetfire rubbed the side of his head 'I just don't understand'

Razorclaw looked up at him 'Hm? What don't you understand?'

'Why a one on one fight? Could we not just negotiate?'

Razorclaw smiled beneath his faceplate 'Not settling it with a duel? Why that would be a disgrace to **his** name'

Jetfire felt a chill in his processor

'And "his name" is?'

Razorclaw stared up at the sky

'The god of duels, honour, and glory, Megatronus himself of course'

* * *

_Cybertron: Shockwaves secret lab_

Shockwave was thrown to the ground by Chop shop, before him were his three experiments, Slug, Swoop and Snarl. Behind them was his Spacebridge project, a large arch stretching from one side of the room to the other.

'Amazing isn't it Shockwave' said Slug 'You actually created a spacebridge small enough for one to simply walk through it, does Megatron know of this?'

Shockwave stared up at the smirking Dinobot.

'Yes, I was to meet up with him once he had reached the target planet. Of course your leader created complications.'

Slug let out a laugh 'Grimlock was an idiot, believe me we all wish he hadn't blown up your tower'

Snarl flinched, but stood silently next to swoop regardless.

'You need me' said Shockwave

'Yes' Slug walked over to the Spacebridge controls 'I need you to enter the pass code'

'Predictable, you wish to rejoin Optimus Prime and the Autobots'

Slug raised his upper lip 'Of course, it doesn't take a genius Shockwave, you are losing your touch.'

Slug was right, he should have anticipated Grimlock destroying the spacebridge, he should have anticipated Starscream threatening him, he should have anticipated the Dinobots take control of the Insecticons. So much he could have done to prevent it all, given the Insecticons circuit dampeners, armed himself earlier, warned Megatron beforehand… Now he would pay.

Starscream continued to squirm in his cuffs. 'Well I have a question' he said impatiently

Slug stared at him 'And that is?'

'What are you planning on doing with Bruticus' Transformation cogs'

The three Dinobots looked at each other confused; Swoop whispered something to Snarl who shrugged. Finally Slug replied

'What are you talking about? What would we need transformation cogs for? In fact what does Bruticus have to do with any of this?'

'But… if you didn't then…'

'Starscream' said Shockwave 'Bruticus was burning as he fell towards you correct?'

Starscream recounted his experience before answering 'Yes, so what?'

'Bruticus had fallen through Cybertrons atmosphere; the time it took for us to reach the crater was too short a time span for the Dinobots to do surgery'

He looked over at slug 'They also lack the skill to try it, whoever took Bruticus' cogs is still out there, I hypothesize that the surgery had been done before Bruticus had landed on Cybertron however so…'

Slug wandered over to Shockwave and pointed a blaster at his head

'Well boohoo I guess you will never find out the answer to that mystery, now tell me the pass code or else you will have your brains splattered across the walls.'

Shockwave remained silent

'What's wrong? You aren't going to speak?'

Snarl stepped forward 'Hey slug maybe you should ease up…'

'Stay out of this Snarl!'

Shockwave spoke

'….'

'What was that? I couldn't hear you?'

'I said kill me, despite being Autobots, you **will** kill me after I give you the pass code anyways, however if I don't then you will be stranded here to die'

Slug remained stunned

Starscream could not speak either

'Well… are you going to pull the trigger or not?'

* * *

_Remains of The Monsterbots ship and the alien spacecraft…._

Ironhide pulled himself out of the wreckage, he breathed heavily as he lifted the metal plating out of the way.

Holy Primus he thought, that ship's interiors must have been indestructible to have survived that blast. But what the hell hit them?

He got onto his feet and looked around, what was left of the two ships were almost completely singed from the explosion. Whoever piloted that ship must've been a lousy flier. Now where was Warpath.

'Warpath? Where are ya kid?!' he called

'Warpath?'

Ironhide looked into the distance. He fell to his knees.

'No'

On the ground was a lone arm, wires sprouted out elbow joint and black liquid oozed out of the pores. Ironhide covered his face with his hands.

The severed arm belonged to Warpath.


	9. All the nice bots die

_The Remains of the Monsterbots ship and an alien spacecraft…_

Ironhide stared at the severed arm for a good 2 minutes, he finally gave himself the strength to stand up and move.

'No…No...NO!' He shouted as he raced towards the arm. He cradled it gently as thoughts went through his head; he had already lost Prime along with literally millions of friends. How could he have let Warpath become another casualty and from what, a crashed ship that fell from the sky? He couldn't accept it. He was the one that was supposed to die first, not the kid, he was far too young for this? Ironhide thought back to Warpaths last words to him and felt disgusted. The last thing Warpath ever did was show Ironhide just how much he had experienced throughout the war, how much he had matured, and how much he hated Ironhide during his last few minutes, now Ironhide was all alone, he would have to hunt for Optimus prime by himself now.

Or so he thought

'Can… I… get… a hand… old timer'

Ironhide looked up from the severed arm to see, charred black from head to toe; Warpath. All battered up, his shoulder was lacking an arm and his visor was cracked open revealing his light blue optics beneath, his faceplate looked as if it were caved in and his back appeared to be almost entirely stripped off. He was having trouble standing, mainly because his legs were nothing more than skinny bone like infrastructures, and his still intact arm was missing a few fingers. Miraculously however his new tank cannon appeared untouched.

'W-Warpath!'

Ironhide practically leaped for joy, flinging his arm around Warpath for a bear hug, the now charred black tank cried in pain from his injuries, Ironhide immediately backed off.

'You okay kid?'

Warpath nodded weakly 'don't feel… good'

Ironhide gave a soft smile 'no worries kid, we'll get you fixed up somehow, for now why don't we find you somewhere to rest up'

Ironhide put his arm around Warpath and walked him around the debris and the burnt down trees.

'Iron…hide'

'What is it buddy?'

'I'm sorr-'

'No Warpath, I'm sorry, I-I didn't know, I shouldn't have been so biased with you, I'm just glad you're okay.'

Warpath managed to nod. They kept walking, looking for something, anything, to let them rest.

'Ironhide…'

'Yeah, what is it?'

Warpath weakly pointed at something in the distance with his pinky finger, Ironhide followed the direction and saw an escape craft, it appeared undamaged minus some dents here and there, but overall it appeared to be in good condition.

'Wait here Warpath'

Ironhide rested Warpath down and backed away a few metres from where he was standing.

'ARRRGH'

He charged at the tree and tackled it; to Ironhide surprise the whole tree tipped over and fell to the ground. Ironhide cracked his neck and pushed the escape craft onto its belly. This was also surprisingly easy for Ironhide, but then again the old rumors of Ironhide being the strongest Autobot have never been too far from the truth.

He lifted Warpath into the craft and gently laid him down on a slab. Ironhide sat on a nearby bench.

'Ironhide' the worn bot muttered 'who do you think was in that ship' he said motioning to the remains of the crashed ships.

Ironhide sighed 'whoever it was they are long gone now, nobody could have survived that'

'We did'

'Yeah well we were in some sort of advanced alien spacecraft'

Warpath shrugged. His small movement activated a small energon repair ray, it slowly repaired Warpaths wounds and even brought back some of his paint.

'Well I'll be…'

'Er Ironhide could you uh… give me my arm back now'

'Oh uh sure sorry, here you go'

Ironhide laid Warpaths arm right under his shoulder, where it should be. He turned and wandered over to what appeared to be controls and began activating the crafts power.

'Ironhide… what are you… doing?'

'I'm getting us off this rock'

'But why?'

'You saw that weird list, Optimus isn't here, and wherever he is it isn't on this smelly mud ball'

'You sure?'

'Heh call me crazy Warpath but somehow I know Prime's not here, I can feel it in my processor'

'Well…What about the others?'

Ironhide paused and thought back to the Autobots. Ratchet, Jetfire, Sideswipe, Jazz, Cliffjumper… and Perceptor. Would he just leave them?... Yes.

'What about them?'

Ironhide boosted the engines and steered the ship around, Energon levels were surprisingly high for an escape craft. This ought to get them at least to the next star system, he thought; they wouldn't have to worry about energon until then. He pointed the ship to the sky and activated the thrusters. Little did Ironhide know, this would be his first and last time leaving the planet's atmosphere.

'Ironhide?'

'What is it?'

Warpath dug into his chest cannon and pulled out a data chip

'What is that?'

'I found it inside this cannon when I grabbed it, I think it might contain something valuable'

'Let's see it.'

Warpath handed Ironhide the chip who plugged it into the nearest terminal in the craft.

_Scanning solar system for Cybertronians… Planet Beest, 4538 Cyb's confirmed, planet The'est… 0 confirmed, planet Vereth… 0 confirmed… etc_

Ironhide laughed

'Damn right this stuff is valuable, this is gonna make finding Optimus an oil cake walk.'

Warpath smiled under his face plate, it was the least he could do as he watched the Jungle planet shrink in the distance as they flew away from it.

* * *

_Cybertron_

Shockwave didn't have a plan to escape; all he could do was await some kind of opportunity to pass.

'Er slug?' asked Swoop 'What are you waiting for? Are you gonna kill him? Or…'

'NO! I mean no, let me just think about this.' The Tricerabot grunted

Slug's rifle shook as he pointed it at Shockwave's head. Shockwave stared into Slugs optics behind his red visor.

'Predictable, you have missed a major flaw in your plan; you had never once considered that your prisoner would refuse. You are trying with all your strength not to kill me so that I will give you the pass code, but I won't, and without the pass code you will be stuck here. By my calculations you will only be able to survive without energon for another month, after then, everyone standing in this room will be dead regardless.'

'Shockwave you traitor' shouted Starscream 'I will see you dead for this!'

Shockwave ignored him 'your plan is flawed my pet, even Grimlock would have seen this mistake and fixed it.'

'Shut…'

'Mm?'

'UP!'

BANG

Slug had fired. Shockwaves body went limp, Swoop and Snarl traded disturbed glances before looking back to see Shockwaves head lift itself back up. The shot had blown off Shockwaves armor plating around his chin revealing the one eyed Insecticon hybrid's mandibles as well as a chunk of his semi organic cheek.

Slug backed away

'What the… hell?'

Shockwave's optic ran over the Dinobot

'Witness Slug, the two of us aren't as different as you realize'

'You are nothing like me!'

'You're right; I **do **have a superior mind than you.'

Slug aimed his blaster back at Shockwaves head

'Why aren't you scared damn it?! This next shot will really kill you this time!'

The room began to shake.

'What the frag was that?' asked an impatient Starscream

'Swoop!' Slug turned to the flying Dinobot 'Go find out what's causing that'

'On it boss' the Dinobot transformed to pterodactyl mode and flew off

Starscream felt worried 'Shockwave what could that be? It couldn't have been the one who took Bruticus' cogs could it?'

Shockwave doubted it, but decided not to answer

'Now then' said Slug 'Where were we, ah yes, blasting open that hideous skull of yours'

'Tell me Slug, which of you have decided to stay behind?'

'Excuse me?'

'The spacebridge will only accept teleportation of two Cybertronians at a time; it will take about a month until your third member will be able to join you.'

Snarl frowned at Slug 'Is that true?'

Slug hesitated 'Of course it's not; he's just messing with us, besides we could probably find a way off Cybertron without using this spacebridge.'

'And how do you expect to accomplish that?'

'We— we'll figure something out, we have control over the Insecticons after all, they should be able to rebuild your spacebridge tower. We just boot up a war ship, aim for the portal and…'

'Not logical, not enough time for the spacebridge to be fully rebuilt'

'Damn it'

The room shook yet again. Slug grew annoyed.

'What the hell is that? I thought I told Swoop to—'

Bruticus came crashing through the ceiling; Swoop's damaged body was in his left hand.

'Bruticus online!'

The massive combiner threw Swoop across the room and turned to Slug.

'No Bruticus' ordered Shockwave, 'Destroy the Insecticon's control device!'

Bruticus turned to a small purple control panel, with one punch, the panel was destroyed. The four Insecticons blinked simultaneously, after realizing what was going on, Venom and Chop shop charged at the two Dinobots.

'Hardshell free me' The Insecticon unhooked Shockwaves laser shackles and tossed them to Kickback who devoured the shackles in a few bites.

'Excellent' Shockwave stood up and relaxed his body.

'Don't kill them Decepticons…' He raised his arm in the air.

'BREAK THEM!'

Bruticus smiled and smashed Slug into the ground, Snarl transformed to beast mode and smashed his tail into the two deluxe Insecticons only for Hardshell to transform to beetle mode and fire a disruptor blast; forcing Snarl to transform into an unarmed robot form. Kickback was chewing on Swoops wing in Insect mode.

'Kickback, activate the Spacebridge, Pass Phrase: _Legacy of Metropolis_

Kickback skipped over to the controls and pulled a lever, the arch lit up and a portal formed beneath it. Through the portal an image appeared revealing what was on the other side.

Shockwave felt as though something was wrong, it was Starscream. He scanned the room for a sign of where the idiot had gone until he spotted the seeker at the other side of the room, crawling slowly towards the space bridge. He must **not **escape thought Shockwave. Shockwave began to transform but hesitated, remembering that his wings were missing. Before he could give Bruticus the order of killing Starscream, the seeker was already through the spacebridge. Shockwave could have sworn he had heard Starscream call him a "Sucker"

'No!' Shockwave sprinted towards the spacebridge. It was his only chance of getting off of Cybertron, with the spacebridge already accepting one spark; he would have to be the second in order to leave. He was nearly there only a few more steps and…

He tripped. Slug had grabbed Shockwaves ankle causing the bot to fall onto his face. Before he knew it, Snarl broke free of his Insecticon attackers and jumped through the space bridge, the bridge discharged a bolt of electricity before shutting down.

'Damn it!' cried Shockwave.

The purple bot slammed the floor, he was angry, angry? Shockwave was never angry, only annoyed, no this was not just mere anger, Shockwave felt that this was something more, like he finally understood Megatrons ways, however there was even more to it. Not only did he understand Megatrons ways, but his mind helped him realized how to improve them, do better than Megatron.

Shockwave looked up to see Bruticus, standing tall next to the four Insecticons, all staring at Shockwave nervously.

Hardshell was the first to speak, 'Shockwave what happened?'

'You were under the Dinobots control, albeit briefly, Bruticus managed to destroy their machine however'

Bruticus laughed 'Hell yeah I did, or should I say, we did.' Bruticus activated the mental command in his head, just as he had done millions of times in the past; he tried to transform. Nothing happened, he tried again. He looked down at his body; he wasn't the Combaticons yet, just Bruticus.

Bruticus panicked 'What the hell? Why can't I transform?'

'Calm down Bruticus, your t-cogs have been stolen. Sometime during the Nemesis' voyage to the spacebridge, you had combined and attacked the Autobots, however at some point of time it appears you were separated from the ship, presumably by a blast from an Autobot and were sent flying towards Cybertron. Sometime between your falling, and landing on Cybertron's surface, you were taken and had surgery done that took all five of your T-cogs.'

Shockwave rubbed his chin

'You were then presumably tossed away once they were done with you. We are unaware who did it, only that it means that you cannot yet de-combine into the Combaticons.'

'Stolen? What.. But, how, why?'

'I don't know, for now you will have to wait until your cogs have been returned, until then…' Shockwave turned to the corner of the room.

'Fistfight, you may come out now, the fighting is over.'

A small purple Decepticon poked his head around a piece of fallen debris and rushed over to his master.

Shockwave patted him on the head 'You did well Fistfight, now transform'

Fistfight transformed into Shockwaves blast cannon and reattached to his shoulder.

Hardshell looked confused 'Wait so this Blast cannon you've been making…'

'Yes, was the one who activated Bruticus, I had given him a mental command to pump him with energon in case something happened, thus giving us the advantage over the Dinobots'

Hardshell scratched his head 'Well yeah there's that but I was really focusing on the fact that your blast cannon was really a Cybertronian'

'Ah, yes. Fist fight is still in "testing" however he is technically no different from any of you.'

Kickback whispered to Chopshop

'Did he just insult us?' but the larger insecticon didn't answer.

'hrrk'

Shockwave looked down

'Decepticons, it appears that we have forgotten about our old friend'

Slug was mashed into the floor, his body twitching ever so slightly, still reeling from Bruticus' strength.

'Venom, Chop shop, bring him back to my old lab, he is in need of some extensive testing'

'Shockwave' said Hardshell 'I can't find subject Swoop, he must've.. I mean I think he escaped'

Shockwave watched as the two larger Insecticons lifted Slugs body off the ground. Towering over them was Bruticus, still trying to comprehend what was happening.

'It matters not, for now we have work to do'

Fistfight sent a mental transmission up through Soundwaves arm, into his brain

_'Two Decepticon signals have been located, it appears that there are still some survivors'_

'Excellent' Shockwave looked at the spacebridge one last time before leaving the room with the others '…Excellent'

* * *

_Backstops ship._

Jetfire felt awkward sitting within this strangers "house". Almost immediately after Razorclaw had departed, Backstop had invited them in, he was an old bot; it was especially shown with the cane he carried. Nonetheless Jetfire was still grateful for the bots hospitality.

* * *

_Earlier_

'Megatronus, as in; **Megatron?**' Cliffjumper made a nervous laugh 'Tell us again why the hell you consider him a god?!'

Jazz smacked Cliffjumper on the back of his head

'Ow what the—'

'Do you **want **to get killed?' he whispered to his smaller compadre

Cliffjumper rubbed the back of his head while glaring at his partner.

Razorclaw turned to Divebomb

'Why don't **you** explain it to them?'

'Ah yes' said the Predacon as he straightened up 'It is in the ancient texts of this planet that Megatronus, the great warrior who fought against his foes with honor, gave us all life in exchange of serving him.'

_Now_

'Hey thank you for everything Backstop; we really appreciate all of this.'

The old bot had sat in a metal chair, he appeared exhausted from all the action he had gone through that day.

'It's my pleasure Jetfire, but I am more worried about your friend'

Jetfire lowered his head

'He made his decision'

'You aren't going to stop him from fighting Razorclaw?'

'No matter what I do, he won't listen, I don't expect you to understand Backstop, but this is something… something that I can't talk him out of'

Backstop paused, he looked over through a window on his right, Air razor was standing outside, still mourning the loss of Brimstone. Razorclaw had issued Undermine as a replacement bodyguard for him. What Razorclaw did not understand, was that you could not _just_ replace a person. He turned back to Jetfire

'He's going to die either way, you know that right?'

Jetfire remained silent.

Backstop held a hand to his face 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it so blatantly.'

'It's fine Backstop, I know'

_Then_

'Load of slag…'

Razorclaw tilted his head as he looked down at the small red Autobot

'What was that Autobot?'

'You heard me; we both know this is all just made up'

Jazz covered Cliffjumper's mouth 'what are you saying Cliff? You really do have a death wish don't you?'

'You really are an ignorant Autobot aren't you?'

Jetfire intervened 'Razorclaw I really do apologize, as I mentioned before, Cliffjumper can be… well… he **is**… a jerk most of the time'

Razorclaw chuckled 'well he certainly has confidence; perhaps he could be the perfect opponent to duel me.'

* * *

_Now_

'Where is he now?'

'Outside with the other two' said Jetfire Glumly 'they are trying to perfect his fighting abilities for his "duel"'

'Well at least it gives them confidence'

Jetfire nodded 'I just wish there was some way we could avoid it'

'I'm afraid you cannot, it should be no surprise to you that Razorclaw does not really play for "honour", his sense of honour is really just giving himself a challenge before executing an opponent.'

Jetfire held his face

'What will happen after then?'

'Razorclaw will either violently murder your friend, or have Catilla blow open your friends head just as they are about to kill him. It will be considered a mental suicide and the match will be won for Razorclaw. As you can see, the outcome will be the same either way.'

Backstop shifted his body 'After that you will be given a choice, join him or…'

'Or the death option'

'Precisely, if you want to live then you all must join his army, your survival will be impossible otherwise.'

'Why not? No really, why not? We have an army of around 85 what makes you think the sum of us won't make it?'

Backstop got out of his chair. He slowly walked towards the window, Air razor had gone inside.

'I think it is obvious that you aren't the first Autobots to arrive here, you see several other Autobot ships have landed here, Catilla became Razorclaw's assassin and would kill any Autobots that came out from the shuttles, as for those that hadn't sported the Autobot badge, they were brought into his army, an army of thousands at this point.'

* * *

_Then _

'Yeah? Y'know maybe I **will **be the one to fight you'

Jazz panicked 'No Cliff don't get hotheaded, you know you can't take him.'

'Well someone ought to'

'But-but Cliff'

'Excellent, in that case we will meet in 24 hours'

As Razorclaw turned around he heard a different voice 'Wait, I'll do it'

Razorclaw turned back to see a silver and bronze jet Autobot standing in front of Cliffjumper and Jazz.

'Ah yes Silverbolt is it? You wish to fill in for your friend?'

'Yes, I am completely willing to give up my life for my comrades if necessary'

Razorclaw smiled 'Excellent, now there is a bot with honour, I will be looking forward to this, however mind you that flying is prohibited in the duel.'

'I understand'

As Razorclaw walked away Cliffjumper spoke up to his Aerialbot comrade

'Silverbolt what the hell are you doing?'

He smiled 'what I must Cliffjumper'

* * *

_Now_

'He is building his army for Megatron'

Jetfire leapt to his feet 'What?'

'You see Razorclaw was once a part of a strike team in the Decepticon army called the Predacons. Megatron saw to it that the Predacons, along with an untested experiment, roamed the stars in search of races that would support the Decepticons. Razorclaw of course failed, he was unable to find any "aliens" so he rallied Autobot defectors and refugees, eventually he settled on this planet and built a civilization, a civilization where the Predacons ruled, a civilization where Megatron would be their god.'

'And now he has his army.'

'Correct, and I assume he has his army sitting outside your spacecraft right now.'

Jetfire tapped in a report in is wrist 'I will brief Perceptor on this but first,'

He looked at Backstop in the eye 'How do you know so much about this?'

A disturbed look came across Backstops face 'because I was with Razorclaw when it all happened, I was a Decepticon: Predacon leader'

* * *

_Then_

'Silverbolt please, why are you doing this?'

'You know why Jetfire'

'But…'

Silverbolt stopped Jetfire with his hand

'Please, this is my choice; I can die fighting now, just as I should have. As I was always meant to'

'But…'

Jetfire thought back, what could he say? Silverbolt was his best friend, was he going to let him make this suicidal choice.

'I'll miss you'

'I know Jetfire. But maybe I will survive. And just as you said before, we will return to Cybertron one day and my efforts won't be for nothing'

'In that case'

Jetfire looked up ahead and watched Jazz and Cliffjumper, CJ was staring at the ground while Jazz attempted to cheer him up

'In that case try to make it out in one piece alright?'

'Don't worry Jetfire. I will'

That is what Silverbolt had said to Jetfire before Backstop invited them in, but when Jetfire looked at his friends face, it read something else:

"I'm sorry my friend, but I'm not going to make it"

* * *

_Now_

'You aren't at all angry?'

Jetfire took a second to think about it

'No, not at all, in fact I am almost glad, without this info we could have been at a great disadvantage'

'I hope so, y'see I can tell when something big is going to happen, and believe me, the next few days are going to be hell.'

_The Ark_

Air raid got back on his feet, searching for Arcee, the lights had gone out it seemed, he saw some movement in the corner of his optic and fired his Riot cannon.

'Watch it, it's me: Ratchet' said the medic as he turned on his front view lights.

Eventually First Aid and Air raid followed suit.

'Air Raid I don't know what has gotten into you but this isn't the time'

Air Raid stared at the body of Arcee near the corner, she was obviously wounded badly, but she didn't appear dead quite yet.

First Aid walked closer to the Aerialbot 'Just drop the gun Air Raid, Perceptor just gave me a call, he says that we are to meet with him and the others immediately.'

Air raid stared at Arcee and then back to the others

'Damn it' he said as he dropped the riot cannon

Ratchet lifted up Fixits body.

'Fixit…'

The small medic's eyes sprung open, blinking in bewilderment as he stared at the upside down slabs connected to the ceiling. Ratchet helped to his feet.

'Thank primus'

Fixit spotted Air Raid across the room

'YOU! You **shot** me!'

Air raid shrugged

'Not now Fixit' ordered Ratchet 'we need to meet up with Perceptor'

He turned to First Aid 'Get Arcee into a stasis pod and then meet up with us as soon as you can'

'Got it'

As First Aid lifted Arcee's body, Ratchet gave Air raid a dirty look.

'C'mon Air raid, he will want **all **of us to be there'

As Ratchet and Fixt transformed to Ambulance modes, Air raid transformed to his Jet mode. The three of them raced down the upside down hallways. Ratchet needed to speak with Air Raid and First aid after this. But for now discussing the Arks current situation would have to be top priority.

* * *

_Backstops Ship_

Air Razor stood outside the ship; she was still engulfed in a sense of loss and emotion. She was sick of it all, Razorclaw, the Predacon council and their stupid sense of honour, she wanted to end it all but she was unaware of how, after all there was no escape from this hell.

'Uh… excuse me'

Air Razor hadn't noticed anyone approach her, standing in front of her was one of the Autobots.

'Ah, yes I'm sorry, how may I help you…?'

'Silverbolt, my name is Silverbolt' he said holding out his hand

Air Razor accepted it and shook his hand.

'Ah yes, of course Silverbolt, is there anything I can help you with?'

She felt a slight awkwardness, Silverbolt… this was the bot that would face off against Razorclaw, the one who would probably be dead within the next 24 hours. He seemed somewhat content however.

'Just wish to meet with as many people as I can before my fight'

Air Razor shot him a confused glance

'Why?'

He chuckled 'Well you see, I am trying to experience as many things as I can in case I die'

Air Razor stared at the ground

'I see'

'Yeah… your name is Air Razor right?'

'Yeah that's my name'

He nodded 'I'm sorry about your friend'

She shuffled her feet 'Don't be, people die here every day, it isn't all that uncommon really.'

Silverbolts smile lowered 'I came from a place not too different, a false sense of honour was in pretty much everyone's processors.'

'Including you?'

'Well no… I think— well you see Air Razor, a long time ago, an old friend of mine told me that battles should always be fought with a sense of honour. Doing so helped treat my fear of heights…'

Air Razor snickered 'You were afraid of heights? But you're a flier aren't you?'

'I still am and yes I am a flier. Anyways, I found myself becoming less afraid of flying, (course I would still pray before taking off) but eventually another friend told me to fight more logically, said that it would help the greater good a lot more than just being honourable in battle.'

Air Razor couldn't think of how to respond, she didn't have a sense of honour yet she still wasn't a murderer or a deserter like a Predacon or Decepticon.

'So… who do you trust more?'

'Well I wouldn't consider my more honourable friend as trustworthy as the other, but at the same time I can't help but still trust his words. My logical friend… you may have met him already, his name is Jetfire, while I trust him more I still don't know if I believe he was right.'

He looked at her back in the eye 'I don't expect you to understand but thanks anyways'

'Silverbolt!' shouted Cliffjumper

'Sorry, but I think my friends are calling me'

He smiled at her one last time before leaving.

'Goodbye Air Razor'

'Goodbye Silverbolt'

Even after Silverbolt had flown off, Air Razor still stared at the spot he had been standing. The goodbye wasn't one she liked to hear, it signalled that it would be the last words Silverbolt would ever say to her. Damn it she thought, why is it that all the sensible bots die?

* * *

_The Ark_

Perceptor stood in the center of the upside conference room, due to the majority of high command either in stasis or "out", the Autobots with the higher ranks stood in the room instead. From one side to the other Perceptor counted the newly arrived bot's Ratchet, Fixit and Air Raid, next to them stood Scattershot whom represented the Technobot's, Hotspot whom represented the Protectobot's and Hotshot, Cosmos, Bluestreak, Beachcomber, Red alert and Hound, who filled in for Jetfire, Silverbolt, Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Ironhide and Jazz respectively. Powerglide and Streetwise had also managed to sneak in, not that any of the Autobots seemed to care.

After all they were all focused on what Perceptor had just explained to them.

Finally Hotshot was the first to speak 'What-the-hell are you talking about? Has Jetfire gone insane?'

'No Hotshot' replied Perceptor 'I already had Hound and Cosmos scope what we are currently dealing with and…'

'And our enemy flipped the ship?' interrupted Hotspot 'I'm sorry Perceptor but that just seems far too unlikely'

'I agree' said Bluestreak 'I just can't imagine a few animal bots lifting up our **MASSIVE SPACESHIP**'

Several bots began mutter to each other in doubt

Perceptor nodded at Hound who projected a holographic image showing thousands of bots standing outside the Ark.

'This is what Cosmos and I picked up' said the green Autobot 'as you can see Bluestreak, their strength in numbers alone is what managed to lift our "massive spaceship" so we are pretty much screwed as it is, the fact that we have no means of escape either is another kick in the lug nuts.'

Red alert stepped forward nervously 'That…that isn't entirely true Hound, while all of the exits have been blocked, we still have that hole in the prison ward that Air Raid had blown open.' He said while motioning at the Aerialbot. 'We should be able to escape from there'

Perceptor rubbed his chin 'In that case we may be able to set an ambush of some kind, perhaps use the hole as a way to sneak out and find some form of back up'

'What back up?' said Air Raid 'Jetfire and his team are out there by themselves, and there isn't anyone else we could ask for help besides Ironhide and Warpath, and who knows where the hell they are.'

Ratchet gave him a cold look 'we don't need any negativity right now Air Raid, we have fought against the odds before, this isn't any differ-'

Red alert burst into a panic 'Oh god we are really going to die aren't we? Primus help us' The Security director fell onto his knees and sobbed.

Hotspot put a hand on his shoulder 'There's Jetfire and the others; they will probably find a way to save us.' He assured.

Air Raid scoffed 'Oh please, you heard Percy, "Silverbolt _must _fight Razorclaw to the death in order for us to leave" we all know they are all going to die out there, and we are going to be slagged with him'

The room fell silent. Each bot in the room had their processors whirring with thought, each trying to calculate a way of survival. Bluestreak was the first to break the silence.

'"must? I'm sorry but what kind of word is that? No really, who says that? "must" "mmmust" **"mmmmust"**'

'Shut up Bluestreak!' ordered Air Raid

'So this is it then' said a saddened Powerglide 'we really **are** screwed'

'Perhaps not' said Scattershot. He pointed at the holographic image. 'None a' those bots are holding any blasters, just knives and blades see?'

'So?' said Perceptor 'These natives have most likely trained with close ranged weapons since birth, it doesn't change our overall outcome'

'Well we could always get some snipers on top of the Ark while the fliers bomb them from above'

'And you expect this to hold?'

Scattershot gave a weak smile 'Nope but we gotta try something' He transformed his arm into a Rocket launcher 'Me an' the Technobot's 'll fight as the first wave'

'But you'll be slaughtered!' said Streetwise

Scattershot put a hand on the Protectobot's shoulder

'We can't stay here without a fight'

Perceptor nodded 'Yes, yes I agree, Scattershot, you and your team will do just as you said, Hound, you will lead a team to flank them, Hotshot, you and I will be on sniping duty'

'Actually' said the young bot 'I think I have an idea for backup'

Perceptor gave him a quizzical look 'And that is?'

'We find the Terrorcons.'


	10. Survival of the Fittest part l

_The Jungle Planet…_

Snarl felt a irritating itch within his processor as he trekked through the space bridge. Optics shut, he kept running and didn't stop, it neither felt as though he were running on ground nor air, a strange feeling, however it was somehow soothing. For a split second his body froze as if the universe were checking him over, as if it seeped within his every nook and cranny to make sure he was who he was, or if he were worthy to travel this distance. Finally he fell to the ground with a thud. He kept his optics shut as his hands dug into the moist ground beneath him. It was soft, something he wasn't too familiar with.

He opened his optics to see the brown earth around his fingertips; he arched his neck upwards to see the sun shining through the cracks between the green tree canopies. Taking a moment of pause to gather himself up, he quickly remembered the con that he was chasing through the bridge: Starscream.

He spotted the seeker in the corner of his optic, changing shape to jet mode and flying off into the distance. All the vigor and hate he felt while chasing the Decepticon had soon gone as he lost interest in him the moment he had vanished over the treetops.

He tried to transform. Nothing happened. He remembered the disruptor Hardshell had fired upon him; shouldn't it have worn off by now? He accessed his inner readouts.

"Alt mode permanently unavailable, cause of loss: External energies combined with disruptor power."

_"Permanently unavailable"_

He cursed to himself as he ran over the situation in his head. External energies meaning the energies from the spacebridge he presumed. He sat himself down by a tree trunk and spoke into his wrist.

'Search ways to regain alt mode… uh please' Snarl wasn't entirely familiar with internal diagnostics, as he always left all the medical work to Ratchet or Fixit. He also wasn't quite fond of his new alt mode to begin with anyways; his old truck mode had been replaced with strange alien features, his rough tires swapped for extra legs, it was disgusting, he felt disgusting. It also reminded him of the tortures he experienced in Shockwaves lab.  
The sooner he was a truck again the better.

The screen on his wrist flashed as it came to its conclusion.

'Alternate mode must be replaced for future transformation, now scanning'

Snarl jerked himself up 'Wait, wait, wait, don't scan, not yet!'

A red beam came from out of his wrist and scanned circled around the Dinobot, scanning  
whatever crossed its path within a two mile radius.

'New alternate mode acquired'

Strange, Snarl thought, he didn't feel all too different, in fact there didn't seem to be much of a change with his appearance to begin with.

He tested out his new transformation; the process was definitely less painful than his old form however something about it felt humiliating. His new form had a fierce jaw however it was still quadrupedal and was much noticeably smaller.

He was a wolf.

He barked in frustration, thank the matrix he was still a silver and bronze metal and not covered in fur, but he was still a beast, and a much inferior one at that. He needed to find a way back to the Autobots and get Wheeljack to reformat him back into a Cybertronian.

As much as he hated the feeling of becoming a primitive animal, the one thing he found useful in his new form, was his sense of smell, while Cybertronians were still capable of smell, it was not as well as most other organic races. He could smell a familiar scent, one that he couldn't mistake for anything else; it was coming closer to him. He peered in between some tree branches, and saw him in the distance. A large mechanical tyrannosaurus was charging closer to his position. It was knocking down several trees seemingly on purpose.

'Grimlock?'

As Grimlock stood in front of Snarl, he opened his wide jaws and scooped up the smaller wolf with his mouth. Snarl tried to transform but Grimlock clamped down, crushing much of the Autobots internal systems.

* * *

_The Ark_

Bluestreak's laugh began to die down as he realized he was the only one laughing. With a confused horror, Bluestreak stared at Hotshot

'You're serious? I mean, you don't actually mean…'

'Yup'

'Seriously?'

Hotshot held his hands together nervously as everyone in the room gazed at him.  
'Well yeah, I mean they are savages and they may have sort of, kind of, _almost_ killed Cliffjumper, but I take it they were just doing it for pleasure if anything else'

'Yeah, so if they did it for pleasure then that makes it a whole lot better am I right?' Bluestreak replied sarcastically

'Yes… I mean no well I think they won't eat us if we give them an offer of some kind'

Bluestreak smiled awkwardly 'Yeah they won't eat us, they'll just eat us, regurgitate us, eat us again only with forks, knives and dinner plates, regurgitate us again, turn our pelts into carpets and chair covers, regurgitate us, and who knows what they will do to us in their robot forms… we would be devoured…'

The other bots in the room merely stared at Bluestreak in response

'literally!'

Perceptor ran several hypotheses in his head by the time Bluestreak had finished his sentence.

'If we don't find some form of help, then those animals outside will kill us… literally'  
He looked around at the other Autobots in the room 'Does everyone in here concur?'

Every bot gave a nod or a hand gesture in agreement, except for Bluestreak and Red alert who trembled at the thought of beings who leak corrosive slime from their pores.

Perceptor turned to Hotshot 'Then it's settled, while we hold off the beasts outside, you will form a team to locate and deal with these Terrorcons.'

Hotshot did a fist pump 'Yesss.'

He looked around the room and did a mental list of names to take with him

'Alright I'll take Heave, Barrage, Beachcomber annnnd…'

He spotted Bluestreak mouthing "don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me" to himself

He smiled 'And Bluestreak'

Blustreak fell to his knees and faced the ceiling

_'NOOOOOOOOOO!'_

* * *

_Grimlocks location_

Grimlock bit down on his prey, he hadn't found many wolves in the jungle recently; he also seemed to have forgotten that they tasted like metal. His optics quickly widened as he realized he had made a big mistake and spit up the Cybertronian. The wolf twitched ever so slightly on the ground as Grimlock sniffed it.

'Sorry… did not… notice you… Cyber…Cybertronian'

Snarl tried to speak, however all he could manage was a cough. Grimlocks bite had ruptured his vocal processor, and speaking only created feel a sticky yet foamy liquid in the bottom of his throat.

Grimlock stared at the wolf quizzically and transformed to robot mode.

'You okay? Should have asked if you robot first, not that they many bots here anyway.'

Snarl attempted to transform to robot mode as well. Activated the mental command in his head, he felt his stomach churn as he realized that he had yet again lost the ability to transform. He was right in front of Grimlock yet he could not reveal who he himself was.  
Grimlock scratched his head and kneeled beside the wolf 'You no talk?'

Snarl screamed in his head "It's Snarl! Grimlock it's me Snarl! Look closer you idiot!"

'Hmm, guess I hurt you more than… than… Beryllium bologna'

What?

Grimlock jolted up and began to pace, blue sparks danced around his head as he began to ramble nervously. He sounded like his old self.

'We are not weapons of universal domination… no, no please let me just kill you, that will be fine... The stowaways? That is the dumbest name I've ever heard…. you're worse than Shockwave.'

Grimlock looked as if he were a puppet, dancing around Snarl.

'Optimus let me tell you how great it is that you've finally woken up… You really think you're a king?... Ever since you came round it feels like most of us used to be Decepticons… I do not need to hide from these things; they need to hide from me… me… me Grrrrimlock.'

Grimlock then fell face first into the mud.

_Oh scrap... did I just kill him?_ Snarl thought

As fast as he fell, Grimlock sat back up, startling the wolf

Snarl managed to stand up on all fours and walk over to his leader in which Grimlock responded by looking down upon the wolf.

'Sorry… ever since spacebridge… have had strange…. visions… keep forgetting them after second though…'

Grimlock stared at the wolf in silence.

'You… have name…?'

Snarl nodded and Grimlock squinted. 'You remind me of someone…'

Snarl beamed "yes" he thought "it's me Snarl! I knew you would figure out who I-"

'You remind me of Bumblebee'

Snarl's expression lowered. "what?"

'Okay, I'm going to hunt more, help stop visions. Goodbye Bumblebee'

As Grimlock transformed back to Dino mode, Snarl chased after him.

* * *

_The Duel_

A platform stood in the middle of the village, it was on higher ground for all to witness "the slaughter" as Backstop and quite possible most of the population would call it.

Surrounded were native civilians of all shapes and sizes, while most were silent having witnessed these "duels" in the past, the Predacons however cheered on their leader, Razorclaw. Silverbolt took a deep breath as Jetfire put a hand on his shoulder.

'You ready for this?'

He nodded as Jetfire squeezed.

'Remember; try to kill him before Catilla gets you.'

He nodded again and looked over at Cliffjumper and Jazz

'Jetfire, where's Wheeljack?'

'He should be in Pinchers workshop still, I tried contacting him but he seemed busy'

Silverbolt tilted his head and nodded yet again in understanding.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped into the ring and stared straight ahead, on the other side of the platform stood Razorclaw; bathing in his glory. Not from the praise of the Predacons however, but from the fear from the villagers and the determination in his opponent; this would be a good fight.

'Remove his wings' he ordered

Carnivac and Snarler stepped onto the field; they activated some power tools and unscrewed Silverbolts wing struts.

Razorclaw smiled 'Just to be sure we don't have to bear witness to some cheating of any kind'

Jetfire clenched his fist.

'Damned Hypocrites' he muttered

A sword about the same size of Razorclaw's was thrown to Silverbolt from the crowd.  
From above Silverbolt looked down at the faces that made up the crowd, behind him were three of his closest friends, to the right and left of him stood crowds of strangers, among them were Razorclaw's minions and others were the terrified civilians. He was going to end this, one way or the other.

Divebomb stood proudly with the other 3 Predacons who all seemed uninterested with the whole ordeal.

'My fellow Cybertronians, this day we shall witness his majesty Razorclaw fight honourably against his foolish challenger, Sliverbot!'

The challenger in question spoke up 'Actually it's Silverbol-'

Divebomb chuckled 'Who cares? Now then Razorclaw, do you wish to tell a speech before you duel?'

'No, this fight shall not be worth a speech'

Divebomb nodded 'and the challenger?'

'Actually yes I would like to say…'

'oops sorry that's all the time we have, the fight shall begin in…'

'5'

_Pincher's lab_

'So these are the guns your people don't know about?'

'Yes'

Wheeljack smirked under his mask.

'Pincher my friend, you have made me proud.'

'4'

_Cybertron_

The Decepticon crawled forward, his colleagues killed by Grimlock during his rampage, and now seemingly the only one left. He was bleeding too much energon and was certain he would die any minute. His vision fuzzed as he could barely look ahead of him, he tried to think of a probable situation one in which he would survive but… but he was so damn angry he was angry and… and so very happy, it was hilarious... everything was so… terrible he couldn't think straight, his disorder had amplified. He looked ahead to see a one eyed purple figure.

'Sh…Shock…'

Shockwave crouched down in front of the damaged Decepticon who stared up at him with blinking red optics.

'What is your name?' the Scientist asked

'Blitzwing…'

'You have a great future ahead of you Blitzwing'

Blitzwing felt oh so happy again

'That sounds… Wonderful'

'3'

Ironhide stared at the monitor

_Planet Junk  
Cybes: 400003245_

Ironhide leapt out of his seat

'Warpath wake up, we're going to be landing soon!'

'2'

Silverbolt clenched the sword with both his hands, he felt silly using a sword of all weapons, as if he were in some sort of fantasy cartoon for sparklings, perhaps this was a way for Razorclaw to taunt his opponents before killing them.

'1… FIGHT!'

Silverbolt dashed towards Razorclaw, he swung his sword at the larger being that blocked it with his own as if by instinct. Sparks flew like embers as the two swords touched, Silverbolt dashed back, trying to regain his balance. He cursed himself for training so little in close combat in the past, he should have headed Sideswipe's words during the war "you never know when you are going to have to bring a sword to a gun fight" only this was a sword to a sword fight and he couldn't even manage that.

Razorclaw charged him. He managed to dodge just in time to make a strike into  
Razorclaw's torso; the Predacon leader winced in pain and slammed his blade against Silverbolts chest sending the Aerialbot across the platform.

Silverbolt got back up; the crowds of beasts still remained silent besides the Predacons and their guards who cheered like madmen. He charged at Razorclaw and kept on slashing; his eyes were shut as he did so but he could still feel the hits connect. He opened his eyes to see several slash marks on a weakened Razorclaw, it seemed he had a chance, he swung his sword again, Razorclaw was now on one knee, the Predacon managed to block the first few attacks but the last sent his sword flying off the platform into the crowd below, impaling a younger native through the chest.

Silverbolt stood above the weakened Razorclaw

'I win this battle.'

He held his sword over his head 'And I'm sorry Razorclaw but in order for our freedom, you must die.'

Jetfire yelled from the crowd 'Silverbolt wait!'

Just as Silverbolt thrusted his sword down, Razorclaw grabbed it, the Predacon's oily hand squeezed the blade causing it to shatter. Several shards danced across the platform as the crowd watched in horror. Silverbolt stepped back nervously only for Razorclaw to get back onto his feet.

'I really did hope it wouldn't have to come to this'

Four gold claws unsheathed from each of Razorclaw's wrists.

'Now you will learn how I got my name'

Razorclaw lunged at Silverbolt and slashed through his mid-section.

'No!' Jetfire screamed

His claws tore through Silverbolt's body as if it were made of paper. Jetfire felt sick as he spotted his partners spark, glowing just inches from where Razorclaw had swung his claws.

Silverbolt held onto his wound with one hand and reached out in mercy with the other. Razorclaw seemed to chuckle as he sliced the bots arm clean off.

The battle was won.

Razorclaw turned the Aerialbot around and lifted him up by the cockpit on his back and whispered to him.

'You said you had a speech of your own right? Well why don't you tell us all before you die?'

He flung Silverbolt over to the edge of the platform.

The Aerialbot managed to stand albeit barely, how things could have gone so wrong so fast he had no idea, but he felt obliged to speak his mind for one final time.

'I do have something to say.' He looked down at the Predacons who were making mocking gestures, then to the Autobots who looked at him with terrifed.

'Do tell.' said Razorclaw

'Well it is more of a question' he coughed up a drop of oil before continuing

'…To you, the colonists of this planet, why do you do as this animal…'

Realizing that what he said may have just insulted the lot of them, he shook his head and rephrased it 'I mean this _monster_ says? You came here looking for freedom from a war that had raged for millions of years yet you allow yourselves to be brainwashed by a being who wants nothing more than to rule over you.'

Divebomb raised his hand to signal for Catilla only for Razorclaw to stop him

'Let him go on'

'Look at yourselves, you don't have to serve this man, you are many, you can take back your freedom, it's too late for me now but it isn't for you, do the unthinkable, leave this place, you don't have to be a slave any longer.'

The silence evolved into low murmurs, while the Predacons and the guards taunted, the rest began to believe that they may truly have a chance to survive.

Razorclaw stood behind Silverbolt

'You are right.'

Silverbolt remained staring into the crowds 'I am? About these people not having to be slaves?'

'No'

From behind, the Predacon leader plunged his claws into what was left of Silverbolts midsection.

'You are right about it being too late for you'

Razorclaw pulled his claws apart from Silverbolt's midsection out horizontally causing Silverbolt's body to tear apart by the torso. His upper body fell against the dirt floor while his waist and legs still stood as if they had not fully registered being severed from the brain module.

The residents screamed as Razorclaw kicked away the body.

'Now then my people!' the victor shouted

'Please return to your homes, there is nothing left to see here'

Just as Razorclaw turned around a sniper bullet shot through his body causing the already wounded Predacon to fall onto all fours.

The crowd traced the bullets path back to its wielder. Jazz stood atop a large mound with Sniper in hand. Cliffjumper tugged on his arm.

'Jazz, what do you think you're doing?'

Jazz reloaded his sniper rifle and stepped down.

'I'm sorry Cliff, but I am sick of hearing this dictator talk like he's some sort of king, Silverbolt was right, and _you_ were right, let's kick some aft!'

Cliffjumper grinned 'Now you're talking my language' he transformed his arm into an assault rifle.

'Bring it on Predachumps!'

Razorclaw got back up onto his feet, and raised his arm high.

'Kill them!'

While Carnivac, Snarler and the rest of the guards drew their swords, the civilians stood motionless.

As he limped away, Razorclaw sensed the severe lack of movement behind him. He turned around to see the tens of civilians all staring at him with blank expressions.

'That means you too.' He snarled

As he turned back and continues limping away, he felt a small fist hit him in the back, followed by a scream. He sighed as he turned around again to see Rampage in beast mode; tearing away at a civilians back. Rampage turned his head back up to his leader as he spat a chunk of the civilian's spark casing.

'Sorry boss, this slave tried to get at you.'

Razorclaw stared at the half dead civilian before looking around at the rest of them in disgust. They had surrounded themselves around Cliffjumper, Jazz and Jetfire, all facing Razorclaw and his minions.

'Treason…' he growled to himself.

He scanned his minions. The civilians outnumbered them no ten to one, however his guards were the ones that were trained in close combat for decades. He raised his hand in the air again.

'Predacons…'

The 4 other original Predacons ran to their wounded leader.

_'TERRORIZE!'_

Divebomb, Rampage, Headstrong and Tantrum each transformed into a mechanical alien like Eagle, Tiger, Rhinoceros and Bull respectfully.

The four of them charged at the civilians along with Razorclaw's 50 or so minions.  
Jetfire watched the Predacons from the crowd of civilians, each one snarling and spitting in their beast modes.

'Autobots…' he addressed the civilians. Most were quivering in fear; others booked and got out of there before they would be mauled.

'Attack!'

The civilians charged some transforming into beast modes while others drew metal swords, clubs and staffs.

The first wave of civilians went down horrifyingly fast. Divebomb lifted 3 civilians at a time with his claws and dropped them from high above, each one exploding upon impact as they hit the ground.

Rampage mauled every civilian he could see, most didn't even notice him before their necks had been separated from their bodies.

Tantrum and Headstrong aimed for civies that were in rows. They managed to skewer 3 at a time with their horns, stopping ever minute to slide them off before charging to skewer some more.

As for Razorclaw however, still greatly wounded, he limped into a large shuttle for  
protection.

While Jetfire shot down aerial minions from the skies, Cliffjumper and Jazz stood back to back, both shooting down guards before they could get close enough to scratch them.

'Jetfire' called Jazz 'Take out Razorclaw, we got this covered'

'But Jazz-'

'GO!'

Jetfire boosted towards Razorclaw's position in Jet mode, witnessing the slaughter below, he recalled something Silverbolt used to say, "Sometimes it's best to contrast one terrible thing from another"

Silverbolt…

Jetfire followed the trail of energon left by Razorclaw outside the crowd and into a large ship.

He transformed and rushed into the entrance on foot. It was dark inside and he could feel the trail of liquid beneath his feet prompting him to follow it.

He wondered to himself, Razorclaw moved quite a distance despite being wounded. There were closer ships for him to limp to. Hell, Backstops ship wasn't too far from there, so why did he choose this one to hide in?

He turned a corner and spotted a crack of light peering out from beneath what appeared to be a door. It must have been where Razorclaw was, he thought. He felt the door for a handle or a panel to open the door with; he grinned as a panel lit up underneath his hand and commanded the door to open.

The door split open revealing a wide room with large caskets lining the walls. Sitting on a stool in the center was Razorclaw.

Silverbolt had really done a number on him; his whole body was covered in scratches and shed energon in several places. In his back was a small crater like wound where Jazz had shot him.

Jetfire calmly walked forward and raised his Thermo Rocket Cannon.

'Don't move Razorclaw, call off your troops and it won't have to resort to anything'  
The Predacon's body shook as if he was laughing, although no sound came out.

He looked up at Jetfire.  
'You really think this is it don't you?'

'Your kingdom fall's Razorclaw'

He waved his claw in front of his face and growled.

'This is nothing; you have only managed to change the minds of the weakest of us. If anything this only helps sorting.'

Jetfire let his guard down 'What?'

'Survival of the fittest Jetfire… you are familiar with the phrase yes?'

'Rubbish' Jetfire spat

Razorclaw let out a hearty laugh 'Oh come now, I remember you Jetfire, 5th cycle 105. We spoke once in a lecture once, the professor, Arkwing was it? Stated that evolution worked in a rather depressing yet fair way, he said that while the strongest of our ancestors lived on and evolved, the weaker ones however, perished. As a scientist, you should at least understand the concept'

'You idiot, that was over 10,000 years ago! Science itself has evolved and different theories have been made within that time. And "survival of the fittest" has been put in the "false bin" in case you haven't noticed.' Jetfire shook his head in pity. 'A lot has changed since you left Cybertron Razorclaw. While you have been skulking here building a meaningless army, the rest of us have already moved on.'

'You think my army is meaningless?' he snapped 'Let me tell you something Jetfire, I was chosen. I proposed the idea to Megatron after I had a vision one day from Primus himself; he told me that if I were to raise our race to learn the Decepticon way, then we may reach its peak of greatness! But It wasn't only a vision; it was a prophecy, my destiny!'

Jetfire shot him a disgusted look and Razorclaw grinned beneath his faceplate.

'Ah yes, of course you happen to be an atheist aren't you Jetfire?'

'That's beside the point, The Decepticons are finished, We have the majority of their troops under lock and key, and the rest have been considered dead, your "vision" was nothing more than a hallucination' Jetfire argued feeling quite confident with himself

'I don't believe that.' Razorclaw stated plainly

'And why's that?'

Before Jetfire got an answer, A small white and blue T-Rex tackled him to the ground while a black panther bit at his wings, As Jetfire managed to wrestle the small robots off of him he felt a shock of electricity zap his spine. As he fell to the ground paralysed, standing above him was Soundwave wielding his signature Tech-volt emitter.

Razorclaw stood next to the Decepticon  
'…Because here is an unbeaten Decepticon right here.'

Laserbeak perched on Soundwaves shoulder as the two of them stared at the electrocuted Autobot.

'Now Soundwave here showed up on my doorstep soon before you and your Autobots did, he explained to me that the Decepticons are still strong despite being incapacitated and that he is willing to give my army a boost'

'So what's this then?' Jetfire coughed 'You explaining your master plan to me?'

'Only as a way to help you respectively join my cause, now if you would please shut up I would like to get to my point'

Jetfire managed to calm down his circuits and keep them from overheating.  
'What sort of … Boost?'

Razorclaw turned to Soundwave

'Why don't you explain it Soundwave?'

The Decepticon communications officer stared at him blankly

'Fine then I will explain' he said gruffly 'You see Jetfire I'm sure Backstop has already told you about our mission to find planets for us to rule. But I somehow doubt you are aware of how we would accomplish it' He motioned Soundwave to activate a switch 'Megatron didn't send the six of us alone. At the time the Decepticon's scientist Shockblast…'

'Shockwave' interrupted Jetfire

'What?'

'It's Shockwave not Shockblast'

He growled 'Shockwave was already working in creating alternate modes for the Decepticon army, ones that would be best suited for the destruction of distant worlds'

'Where is this going Razorclaw?'

He ignored Jetfire's question

'However his experiments failed, they did not have the proper intellect to carry out simple tasks and thus we were left with the option of building a new army, a backup, as one would call it.'

Soundwave tapped in the last key to the control panel and nodded to Razorclaw. Steam began to flood from out of the caskets that lined the wall.

'It was indeed a huge disappointment that our world destroyers were not intelligent enough... but Soundwave here however has found a solution to that problem, something called combiner technology'

'Oh god'

Six beings stepped out of the caskets; they were all the same shades of blue and pink and had flippers and teeth like features on their scaly bodies.

'Jetfire, allow me to introduce to you Snaptrap, Skalor, Nautilator, Overbite, Seawing and Tentakil'

Razorclaw stood in front of them with arms stretched out wide 'Now my friends, you will soon have the abilities to think and feel like the rest of us, as one. Just as Vector Sigma had predicted, all shall become one! Now merge and show our dear Jetfire, what the future of our race holds!'

There was a pause, the six beings stared awkwardly at Razorclaw before slowly climbing atop each-other and transforming. Low grunts and growls emerged as the large being tore up the ceiling of the ship with its sheer size alone. The being was larger than Bruticus yet smaller than Omega Supreme. It towered above the battlefield below and looked down at its masters. Both Predacons and Civilians stopped to witness the large techno-organic being stand above them all.

'Destroy the ones who side against us Piranacon!' Razorclaw shouted

Piranacon became aware of its surroundings. As it noticed the waves of smaller beings below him, the gestalt felt a wave of fear and anger overcome him, they were loud, everything around him was shouting at him, the wind, the trees, everything. He wanted to kill them all; he needed to kill them all only then would he be able to rest. He moved out onto the battle field to destroy everything in sight.


	11. Survival of the Fittest part ll

The giant stood above the riot. Some stopped and stared at him, some just continued fighting. However it wasn't until Piranacon let out an ear splitting scream did the panic truly start.

Civilians and guards scattered as the Gestalt tore a scar in the ground with its sword. Audio receptors burned out as the creature screamed his rage to the heavens. He was in pain. A thrashing, stomping, screaming, slashing pain, a guard named Riptide hid under some rubble created from the now downed fence that once guarded the city.

As he loaded a Bow and arrow, he cursed himself for not running away the minute he saw the combiner. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he turned around the cover and fired wildly at the combiner's position, he opened an eye to realise Piranacon wasn't there. Where had something so big disappeared to? He looked up to find an answer. Piranacon crushed Riptide under his foot.

Jazz and Cliffjumper fired wildly while retreating closer to the ships.

Jazz screamed at his partner, it was the only way he could be heard over Piranacon's own screams.

'We need to get back to the ships, it's the only way we can get the villagers to safety.'

'Uh, Jazz?'

'What?!'

He looked back at the civilians ships to see most of them on fire, the ones that weren't, were either being torn down by Razorclaw's guards or were being invaded to wipe out any civilians hiding within.

'Oh… No'

'I can't believe this, even with this monster on the field they're still trying to wipe us out!'

'Calm down Cliff, perhaps we can- oh god Wheeljack'

'What?'

'He's still in there!'

* * *

_Pinchers Ship_

'So this is it then?'

'Yup.'

Wheeljack chuckled 'Just as you said it would, I'm Impressed Pinch, you knew a riot like this would happen and prepared the perfect weapons to fight back'

'Heh yup'

The guards banged on the doors, it grew louder with every hit.

Wheeljack rummaged for a gun until Pincher stopped him with his claw… hand.

'You use sword'

Wheeljack gave him an odd expression 'What?'

'I use the gun… you use the swords'

He chuckled 'Yeah see Pinch, I'm more of a gun guy than a sword guy see I'm a weapons engineer'

'Swords are weapons'

'Yeah I know that, it's just…'

Pincher pushed the swords into Wheeljacks hands

'Use the swords, Swords are cool.'

The door flung open as dozens of guards flooded in.

Pincher held up his cannon and fired. A beam of red light tore into the horde of guards leaving large holes in their bodies.

Wheeljack charged forward and plunged a sword into a guard's chest.

'Wheeljack pull back!' called Pincher

Wheeljack did as he was told and pulled the sword out, falling on his back in the process. The guards chest exploded sending his head flying into Wheeljacks lap.

'Damn...'

He turned to Pincher 'Hey Pinch why didn't you tell me these swords explode people?'

Pincher smiled under his faceplate 'Swords are cool…'

Pinchers expression lowered as he peered outside the ship to see dozens of more guards heading towards them.

'Wheeljack, come here'

The guards entered the ship and drew their blades.

'Where did they go?' asked a short orange one.

The leader of the pack snarled 'Keep looking, surely they are around here somewhere you just gotta look-'

They turned around a corner to see several flashing red lights each one with timers counting down from 3…2…

'Closer…'

1…

The ship exploded consuming the dozens of guards that entered the ship.

About 20 meters away, a black scorpion emerged from the ground carrying Wheeljack in its tail.

The Scorpion transformed to Robot mode and helped him up.

'Dammit Pinch warn me next time you are going to go beast mode on me'

He nodded and turned towards Piranacon who was thrashing at the ground with his sword.

Jazz and Cliffjumper backed towards the two bots

'Wheeljack you're alright?' asked Jazz

'Yeah I'm fine, thanks to Pinch here'

'We can save the congratulations for later' said Jazz 'we need to get back to the Ark and find a way to stop this thing'

'You can't' said a talking eagle

Cliffjumper braced in surprise 'What the hell?'

The eagle transformed 'It's me, Air razor'

'Why can't we head back to the Ark?' asked Jazz

'It's Backstop, he told me to find Jetfire'

'What for?' asked Cliffjumper

'He says he knows how to stop Piranacon.'

* * *

_Razorclaw, Jetfire and Soundwave_

'This wasn't supposed to happen.' Muttered Razorclaw

He grabbed Soundwave by the collar 'This is all. Your. fault! Piranacon was supposed to be a weapon that obeyed my every will, not a psychopathic monster. You lied to me!'

'I did no such thing' responded the Decepticon.

'No! That thing is killing my men, my kingdom; this is not what Primus meant by when all become one'

Soundwave grabbed Razorclaw by the neck and slammed the Predacon into a wall.

'I was wrong, you do not possess the worthiness to be a Decepticon Razorclaw'

He turned to his cassettes

'Ravage, Overkill return'

The two Decepticons reluctantly transformed to cassette modes and returned to Soundwaves chest cavity. Soundwave turned his back on Jetfire and Razorclaw and walked away until he disappeared from their view.

Feeling the sting in his circuits, Jetfire managed to get on his feet. He glanced at Razorclaw; the once golden armor was now a mix of black and green. The smooth plating that covered his body was now crusted over with oil and energon while dents and torn metal dotted his body. The Predacon was staring at his lap motionless.

Killing him wasn't worth it he thought.

'_Jetfire come in, this is Jazz'_

'I read you Jazz'

_ 'Get your skid plate over here, Air Razor knows how to stop that monster'_

'On my way Jazz'

* * *

_The Ark_

Perceptor transformed his arm into a sniper rifle and turned to Hotshot's team

'Are you and your team ready Hotshot?'

'Of course just say the word.'

Perceptor turned to the Technobots and Air raid.

'Is everyone ready?'

They all nodded.

'Then everyone, through the hole!'

Hotshot, Bluestreak, Beachcomber, Barrage and Heave leaped through the hole along with Scattershot's Technobots.

Octopunch noticed this from the crowded army and pointed a finger

'They're trying to escape! Get them!'

The army charged towards the Ark, Before they could get within ten meters of distance however, The Technobots had already mowed a dozen of them down with scrap makers and path blasters.

'GO, GO, GO!' called Scattershot

Hotshot and his team transformed to vehicle modes and rolled out, except for Heave and Barrage who took slightly longer to transform and merge to form one large vehicle.

Perceptor, stared at the hole for a brief moment and strutted back to the other side of the room.

'What are you doing?' asked Air raid

'Hotshots plan, while logical, has a low chance of succeeding'

'Your point?'

'I just believe it would be far better to use the tools that are already at our disposal rather than seek out new ones'

'What do you..?'

Perceptor stopped at a console in the middle of the room and raised a hand towards it. Air raid stopped him immediately.

'What the hell are you doing?'

'The prisoners can help us Air raid.'

'The prisoners are Decepticons, have you lost your mind Percy?'

'No, I have come to the logical conclusion that if we allow the Decepticons to fight the enemy, then we may stand a chance'

'Perceptor, I am not going to let you release them, I let one escape yesterday and I lost a friend in the process, you release the rest and I mean this I will **shoot** you here and now.'

He nudged Perceptors back with his Riot cannon.

'You have grown fond of that gun haven't you?'

'Shut up, make the choice Percy, I can say one of the cons shot you after they were released. Or we can let Hotshot roll with his plan and we can all come out happy.'

Perceptor stared at the control switch and hesitated. He shut off the console and took a step back.

Air Raid smiled 'Smart move'

He radioed the other flight capable Autobots 'Powerglide, Cosmos, Fireflight, Skydive, Phaser, Blast Master, Blades, Get up here, it's time to roll out'

* * *

_The Village… what's left of it._

Jetfire fired another rocket as he made his way towards the others; Piranacon knocked it aside with his sword and moved closer to them, each step leaving a large imprint in the dirt.

'Air Razor, where is Backstop?'

'Inside' she said hectically 'I saw some guards heading towards them, they are still trying to kill us, I don't understand…'

'It's okay, Backstop'll be fine, we just need to stop any guard that-'

'Jetfire look out!' called Cliffjumper

A large Gorilla like guard grabbed Jetfire from behind and put a sword to his neck

'Nobody move or else the Autobot gets it.'

'You idiot' exclaimed an enraged Jazz 'We need to work together, what are you trying to do anyway?'

'I'm getting off this rock and I will be using your transport to do so, now get me to your "ark" and nobody has to…'

His head exploded, the guards body fell to the ground with a thud while Jetfire wiped the lubricants from his shoulders.

'Nice one Jazz, I thought I was a goner'

'That wasn't me Jets.'

'Then who…?'

He looked behind to see Catilla holding a large sniper rifle.

'You're welcome.'

'Catilla? What are you-'

'No time, I need to ask you a favor, find a bot named Chainclaw, he should be hiding somewhere in Backstops place, I need you to find him and tell him I was wrong.'

'But…'

Snarler and Carnivac jumped onto Catilla's back.

'Traitor!' screamed Snarler.

'GO!' he screamed as the two stronger guards overwhelmed him.

More guards poured onto them while Piranacon focused on the noise from the closer civilians who were cowering in fear.

'Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Pincher, handle these guys, Air Razor, Jazz, with me'

The group split in two as the guards began to attack.

Cliffjumper shot at charging guards who fell before they got close enough to strike, Pincher transformed to scorpion mode and pulled guards into the ground with his tail.

As Cliffjumper stopped to reload, a purple guard strangled him from behind.

'Not so tough when you aren't firing a gun eh?' As he tightened his grip, Wheeljack stabbed a sword through him causing the guard's chest to explode.

Cliffjumper turned around and laughed.

'Wheeljack? Why are you carrying swords?'

Wheeljack frowned 'Shut up, swords are… cool'

Pincher stopped briefly and gave Wheeljack and Cliffjumper a thumbs up.

* * *

_The Ark_

Scattershot yelled into his communicator.

'We can't hold off much longer, we need more help out here'

'Scattershot this is Perceptor. Hound, Red alert and the Protectobot's have the ground, they should provide good cover for-'

'I don't need any help on the damn ground Perceptor, it's the sky I'm worried about'

Hovering above the ark were several flying Predacons including Pteradons, eagles, bats and even a few dragons that breathed fire over the Autobots below.

'Scattershot, this is your stand in Aerialbot commander Air Raid speaking, we will wipe the sky clean of baddies in a few nano-cycles'

Within the Ark, Air raid addressed the troops.

Alright Aerialbots, transform and prepare to launch, the other bots want our help and we are the ones to do it, so what are you all waiting for transform!'

Powerglide, Cosmos, Fireflight, Skydive, Phaser, and Blast master all transformed. Air Raid inspected each one with disgust.

What hideous alternate forms he thought. Powerglide appeared to have the alt mode of a paper airplane, his wings and body looked as if it were flattened by Bruticus' foot. Cosmos didn't even appear to be a jet, he was more so a green disc with a red light on top. As for Phaser and Blast Master, they didn't even have proper aerial modes; they each turned into part of a jet that looked somewhat like blast offs jet mode. The two of them had to merge to form one vehicle. Fireflight and Skydive seemed to check out, but Blades.

'Blades!'

The Protectobot perked up 'Y-yes sir!'

'Why are you still in robot mode'

'W-well because I donut want to be in vehicle mode'

'You what?'

'I donut want to'

Air Raid rubbed his optics 'This is war Blades, get into vehicle mode'

'But-'

'That's an order!'

Blades transformed into his red and white helicopter mode, immediately several pockets of concealed weaponry opened up revealing a maze of rocket launchers, machine guns and turrets.

'AWWWWWW YEAAHHHHH Mutha's time to slag sum Deceptichowps' said the helicopter

'What the hell?'

'Blades is… different' said Powerglide 'He's a swell guy in robot mode but in vehicle mode…'

Blades charged out of the Ark and began shooting randomly at Predacons.

'He's insane…'

Air raid chuckled 'Alright Autobots lets show these guys what it means to be an Aerialbot.

* * *

_Hotshot's team_

'And that is why all life in the galaxy should be treated equally and fairly, except for the Quintessons. They're jerks.'

'Beachcomber shut it, save the mindless prattle to Bluestreak'

'Hey now, I didn't have a choice on this matter remember?'

'Hold it guys, I think we are close'

Bluestreak shrugged 'Oh yeah, **now **we stop, once I bring that up we suddenly make progress'

Hotshot transformed and held out a hand 'No really I think this is the place'

'How can you tell?' asked Barrage

'You can't smell it? That Black one smelt disgusting, I'm almost certain he is around here'

'Almost certain?' asked Bluestreak as he transformed to robot mode.

'Shh'

'Wh-'

Blot and Sinnertwin burst through the trees, both advancing on the Autobots.

Beachcomber panicked 'Hotshot, what do we do?'

Hotshot put a finger to his temple before answering 'Bah weep grana weep ninny bong'

'What?'

'It's something my old group leader taught me, Bah weep grana weep ninny bong'

The Terrorcons moved closer

'I don't think it's working' said Heave

'Bah weep grana weep ninny bong'

Cutthroat and Rippersnapper leaped from the trees behind them and moved closer

'Bah weep grana weep ninny bong'

'Hotshot?'

A large white and purple twin headed dragon emerged from the forest, and growled.

'Bah weep grana weep ninny bong'

Hun-grr scooped up Heave with one of his heads and bit down on his torso with the other.

'Heave!' shouted Barrage

'BAH WEEP GRANNA WEEP NINNY BONG'

Barrage fell to his knees 'Please don't kill Heave I beg of you.'

Hun-grr stopped

'Heave is my best friend, don't hurt him'

Bluestreak chimed in 'Yeah, besides Heave will just make you… heave'

Hun-grr spit up Heave and transformed to his smaller Robot form.

'What the hell man, you just ruined my appetite'

Bluestreak laughed nervously.

Hun-grr turned to Heave who was being consoled by Barrage.

'And you! What kind of name is Heave? How do you expect me to eat you if you have such a gross name?'

Heave whimpered in place.

Hotshot stepped forward 'Um Mr. Hun-grr… sir'

Hun-grr stared at him shocked

'Oh my god you **aren't **insane?'

Hotshot felt insulted 'No, why would you think that?'

'You kept muttering that gibberish what was that?'

'Uh… That- the universal greeting! How do you not know the universal greeting?'

Beachcomber whispered into Hotshots audio receptor 'To be fair I have never heard that till now either'

Hotshot waved him away as Hun-grr spoke

'That doesn't matter, what do you guys want from us, you are trespassing'

'We uh need your help, you and your friend's help.'

Hun-grr nodded at the others and each of them transformed into a smaller robot form.

'For what?'

'The Predacons, they have an army at our doorstep and we need someone to clear them out.'

Hun-grr laughed 'only been here a day and the Preds are already trying to kill you eh?'

His expression lowered 'What do we get in return'

Hotshot turned to Bluestreak and back 'you can eat whatever Predacons you see'

He nodded 'Okay, only under one condition'

Hotshot sighed 'What's your condition?'

'When we start we won't stop, If one of your friends just _happens _to be in the way, then we won't hesitate to eat them.'

Hotshot nodded 'Okay. It's a deal, I'll warn the others about it.'

Hun-grr smiled 'Great, You have 20 seconds, before we attack, you should start driving, the clock is ticking.'

* * *

_Backstop's ship_

The three bots entered the ship, while Air Razor held a sword, Jetfire and Jazz held a Thermo rocket cannon and a sniper rifle respectively.

'It's quiet' stated Jazz'

'Too quiet?' asked Jetfire

He shook his head and pointed at a moving pile of debris in the corner.

Jetfire kneeled down at the debris and turned it over, underneath was a wounded civilian.

'That's Chainclaw' said Air Razor 'We should get him out of here'

Jetfire slumped the bot over his shoulder 'That's one down, now we just need to find Backstop'

Jetfire opened the door to the room he and Backstop spoke in. Inside were several dead civilians and Backstop who was sitting in a chair near the back.

'Backstop!' He called.

As Jetfire jogged towards the old bot he noticed something. Something was missing it would be obvious for most, but for Jetfire it didn't feel real. Air Razor covered her face and held in a scream, Jazz held Jetfires shoulder.

'I'm sorry'

Backstops body was sitting in his chair, but his head was scraped hollow and shoved into the jaw of the dead undermines dino mode.

'We should head back Jetfire, there is nothing we can do now.'

'Jazz.'

He looked up at Jetfire 'What?'

'Take Chainclaw and Air Razor and head back to the others.'

'What are you going to do?'

Without giving an answer, Jetfire transformed to Jet mode and flew out of the Building, he changed back to robot form and reloaded his Rocket cannon.

Cliffjumper quit firing at the guards the minute he saw the enraged Jetfire. 'Jetfire?'

Jetfire sprinted into the crowd of guards and fired at the ground beneath their feet. Each shot obliterating their lower halves of their bodies and sending their upper halves flying through the air.

'This is for Backstop!' he shouted.

His body became riddled with several gashes and slash mark as guards attacked him. He fired his last shot at Piranacon before unsheathing an energon blade and stabbing a guard through his forehead. As Piranacon followed the trail of the shot that was fired, he stared at Jetfire and raised his sword. Jetfire tripped over a body and landed face first into the ground. He looked up to see Piranacon's sword coming down to him like a falling skyscraper.

* * *

_The Ark_

'HEEEEELLLL YEAH!' shouted Blades as he shot down another pterodactyl.

On the ground Red alert hid behind a nearby tree with some other bots, his body shaking in fear.

'We're going to die, aren't we Goldrod.'

'Relax Red, Hotshot said he would come back with reinforcements, they should be here in any- ah! There they are now'

Hotshot, Bluestreak, Barrage, Heave and Beachcomber drove up to them, transformed and hid behind the tree with them.

'Hey guys, what did I miss?' asked Hotshot panting

Hound stepped forward. 'Did you- I mean the Terrorcons did they'

'Agree? Kinda. You see they-'

The Terrorcons stomped onto the battle field, each one snarling and gnashing their teeth as they moved towards their prey. Rippersnapper was the first to devour a Predacon soldier while Cutthroat attacked the aerial Preds in the sky.

'Awesome! Shouted Goldrod as he charged back into the battle'

'Goldrod wait!' shouted Hotshot

As Goldrod approached a wounded Predacon, Rippersnapper chomped down on his upper body and stomped on the Pred below.

'Ah well' said Bluestreak 'He was gonna go sooner or later'

Hotshot stared at him in disbelief 'I can't believe you just- okay fine I admit I was thinking that too, but we need to focus Autobots, we gotta be sure to take out as many Preds we can, while avoiding the Terrorcons.'

'Well actually' interrupted Red Alert 'I don't mean to be lazy or anything but these "Terrorcons" seem to be killing these guys fairly well on their own, why don't we just hide in the ark and let them do all the work, safer yeah?'

Hotshot opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself after a moment of thought.

He activated his communicator 'Perceptor? This is Hotshot, get all the Autobots back inside, the Terrorcons will handle it from here'

* * *

_Jetfires position_

Jetfire braced for the feeling of Piranacon's sword to fall upon his body and send him to the allspark or J'nwan or whatever the hell afterlife that could possibly come. He shut his eyes and tightened his fists. He heard a crashing sound. Was that it? Was he dead? He opened them and looked up. An escape craft had tackled Piranacon's sword out of his hand. The sword pierced the bare ground below as the Gestalt's eyes followed the escape craft as if it were a fly. The craft did a U-turn and flew straight towards the gestalt this time. The top opened and three familiar faces emerged and leaped from the craft.

'Monsterbots, attack!'

Grotusque and Doublecross flew in Beastmode's as Piranacon swiped the air to grab them while Repugnus fell to the ground below.

He landed to his feet and ran towards Jetfire.

'Hey! Autobot, you still alive?'

Jetfire nodded and stood up

'What are you doing here?'

'Our ship sort of… broke. We managed to break the Plexiglass and escape through a window. We found a working escape craft in the wreckage below and-'

Doublecross came flying towards the ground, landing in some scorched earth in the process.

'Damnit! Jetfire take this.'

Repugnus held out a small vial containing an orange liquid inside.

'What is it?'

'Thanks to your little red friend, some of Blots corrosive slime was left in our ship, we managed to scavenge some in case something… hilarious happened'

Jetfire nodded weakly 'Right'

Repugnus tilted his head 'You alright buddy?'

Jetfire vision blurred, he was losing energon fast.

'Don't worry Repugnus just tell me what to do'

Repugnus stared at the Autobot before shaking his head.

'No, you can't do it, you're wounded, who else do you know can fly?'

The three other Autobots and two civilians ran up to them

'All the guards and Pred's are either dead or have retreated into the woods' exclaimed Wheeljack

'All that's left is this thing' he said while pointing a sword at the screaming Piranacon who was trying to swat at Grotusque.

Repugnus placed the vial into the palm of Air Razors hand

'Bird lady, if you want to stop this thing, I need Piranacon here to drink this slime, can you get him to do that?'

Air razor paused and stared at the beast. She remembered Brimstone, Silverbolt, and Backstop. And she knew what to do.

'I'll do it'

She immediately transformed to eagle mode and held the vial in her talons.

As she ascended, she spotted Grotusque get swatted out of the sky. Just as Piranacon turned to her, she transformed to robot mode and tossed the vial into the Gestalt's screaming mouth.

Piranacon struggled for a minute before swatting her out of the air as well, she landed beside Doublecross who was just waking out of stasis.

Piranacon began to slow down, his rage was settling, he felt tired, very tired. Perhaps it would be best to sleep. He looked around for somewhere to sleep. His hands were orange, strange. And what was that taste that was in his mouth? Curious. He fell to his knees, yes it was a good time to rest.

Piranacon's head fell from his body and hit the ground with a thud.

His limbs fell off just the same and went into stasis lock.

* * *

_The Ark_

Stranglehold sprinted into the jungle in rhino mode and away from the Terrorcons. Few members of the army Razorclaw had created were still alive, all either hiding in trees or running towards the village.

Hun-grr shouted a triumphant roar and strutted into jungle opposite to the retreating Predacons. The other Terrorcons soon followed.

'So that's it?' asked Ratchet 'We won?'

Hotshot chuckled 'Yeah I think we did!'

The Autobots within the Ark began to cheer in unison, either embracing or shaking each-others hands, the Autobots were happy, well… Most of them anyways.

* * *

_Air Razor and the others._

A smile came upon Air Razors face as the other Autobots ran over to her, each one patting her on the back and shaking her hand. Pincher offered her his gun as a present while Repugnus argued that it was his idea to begin with.

Something was missing, someone was missing rather.

She stood up and walked away from the other Autobots. Jetfire was limping towards something, something important. She followed the Autobot towards what was left of the village. He approached a high platform and climbed onto it with difficulty. He stopped there and fell to his knees. What was he looking at? She thought. She jogged over to get a better look, Jetfire turned to her and smiled, in front of him was Silverbolts body, within his wounded chest was a flickering spark.

It was faint, but it was alive.


	12. Beast Planet Epilogue: Holy S

Jetfire watched as Huffer nailed the last bolt into the Ark's thrusters. He usually hated having to leave a planet after visiting, he had explored many planets in the past during his day of working in the science division and felt the same sort of sadness he felt when leaving Cybertron, this time was different however, this time he wanted to be as far from this planet as possible. He watched Huffer hop down to the ground and lumber towards him.

'I have no idea what Pipes sees in this design; the damn thing's never going to work.'

Jetfire grinned assuredly to the Autobot and placed a servo on his shoulder

'Relax Huffer; we might as well give it a try, otherwise you can always try lifting it yourself.'

The small Autobot laughed spitefully 'You should've seen Brawn, the poor fool was legitimately trying to lift the entire Ark, pfft freaking idiot.'

'Did he succeed in lifting it at all?' Jetfire asked whilst raising a brow

Huffer wore an uneasy look upon realizing he was right 'Well he managed to lift the side of it over his head but…'

He was interrupted by Perceptor who contacted him via intercom so that he wouldn't have to search for him in the crowd of Autobots that stood outside the Ark. 'Jetfire, All Autobots are now outside the Ark except for Air Raid and Cliffjumper who are working on the controls inside'

'And the Decepticons?'

Perceptor winced for a moment upon remembering the mistake he nearly made the day before.

'They are all locked up tight, Red Alert made sure of it'

'Excellent' he craned his neck to Huffer who stood with both arms crossed 'are we ready to test out these new thrusters then?'

'Still not gonna work' Huffer muttered to himself

'Pardon?'

Huffer faked a smile and raised both hands 'Yep ready as always'

Jetfire nodded and turned on his communicator

'Cliffjumper you there?'

Inside the Ark Air Raid hovered near the ceiling, of course the ceiling was in reality the floor whereas the ground was the ceiling in this case. Cliffjumper sat on the Aerialbot's shoulders as he tapped at the control panel above.

'Yeah, yeah I'm here, can we get this over with? I think I'm getting a cramp coming on.'

'Oh _You're_getting cramped?' snapped Air raid 'I'm the one who's been carrying you the past half hour'

'Well gee I sure would like to do this on my own, but for some reason I can't –oh wait- maybe it's because I can't fly! Ever wonder that Air Raid?'

_'Both of you lock it down, Cliffjumper, activate the thrusters'_

Cliffjumper smirked and tapped at the panel above 'Finally'

Outside, dozens of Autobots watched as the side thrusters on the Ark sprung to life and scorched the ground below, the Ark lifted itself off the ground and rotated, facing upwards, the thrusters died down and the Ark landed in its takeoff position.

The Autobots clapped as Cliffjumper poked himself out of the side of the Aircraft.

'You see that Air Raid? That was all me.'

Air Raid punched him in the shoulder and walked away towards his quarters.

Cliffjumper rubbed his shoulder 'Pfft, sourball'

Outside Jetfire smirked triumphantly at Huffer whose mouth hung wide open.

'Never going to work eh?'

'Ah shut up "fearless leader"'

As Huffer walked back towards the Ark Jetfire's expression lowered. It was official; these bots really saw him as a leader now. He followed Huffer towards the Ark.

* * *

_20 minutes later_

Red Alert stood outside the Ark with data pad in hand. Jetfire strolled up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder from behind. Red Alert immediately jumped and fired two shots from his burst rifle in Jetfire's direction, while the first shot clipped Jetfire's shoulder; he managed to dodge the second.

Red Alert covered his mouth. 'Jetfire! Oh Primus I'm so sorry, are you okay?!'

Jetfire held his shoulder wound and winced 'Relax Red, I've taken worse.'

Red alert nodded nervously 'Is there anything I can help you with Sir?'

'I decided to take your shift'

'Sir?'

He laughed softly 'Well to be honest I think some friends of mine may be joining us and I just wanted to be sure the right people will be coming aboard.'

Red Alert nodded in response 'Right, understood.'

Red alert spun around, facing the entrance of the Ark and began to walk.

'Oh and Red'

He faced Jetfire cautiously, unsure of what the Aerial commander wanted.

'Ever since Ironhide and Warpath's aband- I mean Disappearance, I have decided to promote you to head of security in Ironhide's place'

Red Alerts optics widened

'Is that alright?' Jetfire asked, hoping not to be too sudden with the promotion

He nodded vigorously before fast walking into the ship.

As he did so, Red pulled out a microphone from his belt and spoke into it.

'I believe Jetfire may have murdered Ironhide in order to put me into a higher rank, surely once I am in Ironhide's place, it will appear that I have killed him, thus the others will use this as an excuse to kill me… oh god I am being framed'

'Red I can still hear you, and no I didn't kill Ironhide'

'LOGOUT!' Red alert shouted as he ran into the ship.

Jetfire sighed and turned around to see Wheeljack's face literally centimeters from his own.

'GAH! Wheeljack what are you doing?'

Wheeljack stepped back and chuckled 'Eh sorry Jets, I was just trying to get your attention is all'

Jetfire had just noticed Pincher standing unemotionally next to Wheeljack.

'Y'see I was wondering… well if it's okay with you, Pincher would like to come along with us. After all, besides Air Razor, all the other Civilians are dead so…'

Wheeljack stopped himself upon realizing how carelessly he worded it 'I-I'm so sorry Jets I didn't mean…'

Jetfire shook his head, 'it's fine Wheeljack, Pincher can come along if he wants'

He smiled at Pincher who responded with an unemotional 'Cool'

Jetfire laughed a little too late in response from the sheer awkwardness of Pinchers personality.

'Well thanks Jetfire' said Wheeljack as he boarded the Ark

'Say Wheeljack about those swords…'

'What'sthatcan'thearyoubyyyyee' replied Wheeljack as he dragged Pincher away with him into the Ark.

Jetfire laughed as he turned to observe at the remaining bots that were still outside. Fixit was collecting a soil sample, most likely for future comparison and Air Razor was having one last flight around the Ark before leaving her world, that left the Monsterbots and the wounded Catilla who sat against a tree by himself.

Repugnus, Doublecross and Grotusque approached him.

'Jetfire'

'Repugnus'

There was a short silence as the two stared at each other. It wasn't until Grotusque coughed did the silence break.

'May we come aboard?'

'You may'

The three Monsterbots trotted into the ark and up the ramp until Repugnus stopped.

'Oh and Jetfire'

Neither looked at each other,

'Be advised that we will be hanging out in the back of the ship where we won't disturb or be disturbed. I would ask that you or your friends don't bother us, but when you need our help, and you will, call us and we will solve whatever problem you need dealt with'

Jetfire nodded and the three Monsterbots made their way into the Ark.

Fixit drove into the Ark in ambulance mode, honking once to greet Jetfire as he passed. Air Razor entered as well, nodding shyly as she followed Fixit into the Ark.

That only left Catilla. Jetfire flew towards the ex-guard of Razorclaw and sat beside him.

'Catilla I… I would like to thank you for what you did, without you I doubt I would have'

He raised a hand to Jetfire motioning him to stop 'No, don't say anything, you know what I've done, don't give me any of your "in your debt" crap'

'I wasn't, I was asking if you were going to join us.'

He shook his head

'Why not?'

'It's Chainclaw, I don't want him to see me like this.'

'Ah right, Chainclaw's your friend right?'

'Family actually'

Jetfire nodded in understanding.

'So you are just going to stay here? You won't be lonely?'

Catilla got up on his feet 'No, I'm going to find some of the ex-guards, they aren't all bad y'know? Carnivac is a mute and has an undying freakish grin but overall he's a pretty good guy once you get to know him.'

'What about Razorclaw? He and his original Predacons are still alive somewhere, you aren't afraid Razorclaw may start over again?'

Catilla smiled 'Relax, more civvies will come here, and when they do I will be sure to find them, I even thought of a cool name to replace "Predacon"'

'And that is?'

'Maximal'

* * *

_15 minutes later_

The Ark launched, Catilla watched from the ground. Ironic he thought, only now, when the Ark was launching did he wish he went with them, that he could say goodbye to Chainclaw one last time at least. Well, too late now he thought. He transformed to his sabre tooth mode and sprinted into the lush green jungle. The Ark was soon outside the planet's atmosphere, and flying through space.

* * *

_Med bay_

Jetfire entered the Medbay and stared at the Autobots in stasis, Chainclaw was in a stasis pod while Arcee was spread out on a table with a holes in her body, (Ratchet had given him the report earlier, he was sure to lecture Air Raid when he could), Trailbreaker was awake and sitting upright on his slab, First Aid was testing his reflexes while he spoke with Ratchet.

'So Sparkmeal Psychology is basically the mechanical equivalent to flirting for organic races?' asked First aid

'It goes much deeper than that, but yes that's a simple way to put it'

Ratchet noticed Jetfire and walked towards him immediately wearing a warming grin.

'Jetfire, Great to see you, as you can see Chainclaw is in the middle of a speedy recovery. I imagine Catilla will be pleased'

'He's not here Ratchet, He decided to stay behind.'

Ratchet nodded to the side 'I see'

Jetfire looked across Trailbreaker to see Sideswipe, his head had been put back together, he appeared a bit more streamlined than before, perhaps Fixit had worked on him, he was a vehicle designer turned medic after all.

'I heard it was bad, you mentioned in your report that he wouldn't be waking up.'

Ratchet shook his head 'I'm afraid not, it's a shame I don't believe in miracles because I would say that is exactly what Sideswipe needs at the moment'

Jetfire nodded 'So you've read my response?'

'Yes, I will have Fixit put him into storage until we can do with a proper burial or a miracle'

Ratchet smiled faintly

'You seem to be in a better mood than since I last saw you, friend'

Ratchet nodded 'I'm just glad we're all together and moving on, you have no idea what I've been through since you left'

Jetfire laughed heartily 'You and me both'

Ratchet noticed the look of impatience on Jetfire's face

'You didn't really come here to check up on me did you?' he said with a grin

'What do you mean?'

'You wanted to know how Silverbolt is doing?'

Jetfire rolled his optics and grinned 'Fine you caught me, how is he?'

'Why don't you ask him? He's right over there'

Ratchet pointed at the Aerialbot from across the room, he was sitting meekly on his slab while Fixit mended his legs.

'What- already?'

'You sound almost disappointed'

Jetfire ignored Ratchet's comment and rushed over the Aerialbot.

Silverbolt looked up from Fixit and smiled warmly as Jetfire approached him

'Hey Jetfire'

'Silverbolt, you're okay? How are you already online?'

'Ratchet said none of my major hardware was ruptured I didn't leak as much Energon as it appeared.'

'That's amazing, wait, I'm not hallucinating am I? Please don't tell me I'm stuck in the med bay somewhere dreaming all this'

'Well I could punch you and see what-'

Jetfire raised both of his hands in defence

'Relax I was just kidding.'

Silverbolt laughed 'I know'

Jetfire sat himself onto a recharge slab opposite from Silverbolt.

'So, how are you really?'

'I'm fine Jetfire.'

'You aren't disappointed by how your fight with Razorclaw… turned out?'

'Not in the slightest'

Jetfire stared at his feet 'Well you know…'

'Jetfire'

He looked up

'Primus isn't done with me yet, I'm okay with that'

Jetfire sighed in relief

'Good to have you back old friend'

* * *

_5 minutes later_

Silverbolt became bored; he stared at Fixit as he repaired his legs

'Hey uh Fixit I think I can walk now, do you think you can let me…'

'Sorry Bolt, your ambulatory systems are still in need of repairs… besides I need to get the colour of your heels right'

'What was that?'

'Nothing!'

Silverbolt looked up at the doorway, waiting for someone to walk in that he could talk to. After a minute of waiting, a familiar face walked in.

'Hey, Air razor' he called and waved

The black and gold femme jogged over and greeted the Aerialbot.

'Silverbolt! I came to see you, is everything alright?'

'Yeah, Fixit here is doing his best. Right Fixit?'

'Red? Nah magenta…' he muttered to himself

'Heh anyways I heard about what you did while I was knocked out'

She nodded

'And I've been thinking, would you like to be a part of the Aerialbots?'

'YES!' she shouted immediately. First Aid immediately looked up from his data pad and gave Silverbolt an odd glance.

He laughed in response

'I uh, I mean yes that would be great' she said correcting herself

'Excellent, you should meet with the others; they should be in deck 5. Also, before you go, I would try to stay away from Air raid, he's been sort of… edgy lately.'

Air razor nodded, 'Thank you, Silverbolt, get well soon.' She then made her way out of the med bay, unaware that she would be returning there soon enough.

'Oh wait! Orange' said Fixit to himself

* * *

_10 minutes later_

Jetfire stood above the crowd of Autobots, he wondered if announcing in front of the whole group was a good idea. He spotted Trailbreaker enter the room, that only left the bots in the Medbay, Ironhide and Warpath. Was leaving those two on their own the right thing to do? he thought, then again if he knew Ironhide, he would probably find a way off the planet one way or the other. Perceptor stood on his left while Jazz stood on his right.

He stepped forward and silenced the Autobots with a raise of his hand

'Autobots,' The crowd gazed up at him 'I'm sure you all are aware of the events that happened the past few days, and I will be honest, these have been some dark times for us, I don't know if it is because Optimus is gone or if it is that the Matrix isn't with us at the moment, but all I know is that we left Cybertron to find a new home, however what we found was quite the opposite. We have lost some friends these past couple of days, and I pray they won't be forgotten'

'Sir' interrupted a small yellow bot sitting at the terminal behind him

'What is it Hubcap?'

'I am detecting large slip space readings I think we should-'

'I will come back to you in a second Hubcap, let me finish up here.'

He continued 'I know most of you see me as a sort of leader, but I'm not, I'm no Nova Prime. I am no Sentinel Prime, I am no Zeta Prime, and I am no Optimus Prime. I don't believe I am ready for this opportunity and-'

'Sir. I am detecting a larger reading, the scans show that whatever it is, is deliberately trying to teleport to our position.'

'I said not now Hubcap' he spoke in a firmer voice and turned back to the crowd 'I believe that I may never be ready for an opportunity such as this. Which is why I have set course for the location of the Xantium, the star ship which carried the Autobot Black Ops group known as the wreckers, however I-'

'Jetfire, this is really important the scans say that we may be'

He ignored Hubcap 'Who we will really be searching for, is their supervisor Ultra Magnus who was marked as the future successor to Optimus Prime by the high council before their massacre. I believe it is in our best interest to find Ultra Magnus and-

'Jetfire! I'm serious, I believe we are about to be intercepted by-'

The Nemesis rammed itself into the Ark, the larger warship knocking the Ark sideways causing the Autobots inside to tumble over each other.

Repugnus cursed as he viewed the Gigantic Warship through a side window.

'HOLY SHI-'

Atop of the Nemesis stood the Decepticon Air squadron, at the front of it stood its leader.

Slipstream smiled as she looked down at the Ark as it burst into flames.

'Decepticons!' she called out

_'Begin our Assault!'_


	13. Come with us Stay with us

Here is a song that I believe perfectly fits the events of the stories current arc. I know the song may not be good to some but I chose it mainly because of the lyrics. Despite that I will be surprised if I am the only one who gets chills at 6:45 of the song.

_In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 -Coheed and Cambria_

* * *

"_Defection occurs naturally during the premature moments of a war, some just disagree with others and join the opposition, some have enough of one side and join the other, some do it because they wish to be on the winning side or because they believe it would be best for their safety, but mostly it is the case when one wishes to raise their newly found social status. Most defect by simply leaving their unit and showing up on the enemy's doorstep, sadly most are killed if they do not have valuable information or anything to show for and even then most are killed soon after despite having information. However I believe the worst case of betrayal is when you are the only one in your unit 'not' to defect, and it's you who is running away instead."_

_**-Autobot Air guardian Jetfire in response to the mass increase in Autobot defection rates: 8**__**th**__** cycle 234 **__(two earth years after Trypticon's capture, and three earth years before Megatrons temporary death by Metroplex)_

"_I believe that the religious phrase 'Till all are one' has a different meaning than thought out by the church. I believe that rather than meaning 'when all sparks become intertwined' it means that together, the Cybertronians as a race, can find peace and prosperity if we are all united as one faction, or one 'family'. While it is the humble opinion of this Cybertronian that the covenant of Primus does help us prosper ourselves with its giving of hope, however I digress that most of its contents do not share the meanings that the church predicts. While I view it in a more literal sense, I respect the views of its followers but wish for them to understand -and potentially- accept my beliefs that we must all join together as mechanical beings within a predominantly organic universe."_

_**-Megatronus at a peace rally he hosted: 6**__**th**__** cycle 302 **_(three days before being harassed by the media for speaking offensive and inflammatory remarks against the church in his speech, and a week before his constant public abuse pushed him to go by a different approach.)

"_I promise you the Decepticons will never seize a victory so long as I stand"_

_**-Zeta Prime's speech after Megatron's declaration of war and murder of 42 senior Autobot officers: 6**__**th**__** cycle 400**_

**In the year 3201 ACE, It was stated by Veteran Autobot and Archivist turned History professor Rewind that the second of the seven Ark-Nemesis battles (not including the battle in 65000000 BC/2748) was waged in 8****th**** cycle 540, soon after the Ark had left the Beast planet before its destruction in 2015. **

Slipstream let the adrenaline overcome her and smiled broadly. She missed days like these when it was her, her soldiers and the Autobots stammering around in a mess of confusion and fear. This was going to be her victory. The blackness of space disappeared overhead and was replaced by an ocean of flight squadrons and seekers; they began firing as soon as their weaponry was pointed at the Ark, the ships right engine exploded as Needlenose and Tailstrip fired cluster bombs that unleashed a wave of electricity upon impact. Causing the Ark to turn in place

_Her _Victory

She held a finger to the side of her head and activated her intercom.

'Now, now, I want everyone to remember that we are trying to go for a peaceful approach, drag out their flyers for now and then initiate phase two.'

A sharp pain emerged from her chest and she immediately grabbed her side.

Not yet she thought. Just a little longer.

As the searing pain that burned her circuits spiked she fell back only to be caught by Skywarp.

'You okay Slipstream?' asked Thundercracker

She shrugged off Skywarp and wore her signature smile.

'I'm fine guys; I'm just a bit excited about this is all.'

Thundercracker gave her a skeptical look as Slipstream turned her intercom back on.

'This will be the first and last time the Autobots properly lose, we are moving on a direction of "peace" so no casualties. In other words the first time is always the most painful so do it gently kay?' The flight squadron responded with a mix of "kay"s and "yes Lord Slipstream" among a few "whatever"s in response.

Skywarp scratched his head 'Wait I don't get it, that sounded like it was supposed to be funny, was that supposed to be funny?'

Thundercracker crossed his arms 'I believe she was making a joke about organic mating rituals and the way- wait a minute what am I talking about we are in the middle of an assault!' he turned to Slipstream 'Shouldn't you be fighting alongside your Decepticons?'

'Shouldn't _you _be?'

'I told you I've chosen not to fight this battle, besides it would be best if Skywarp and I watched your back, a cloaked Autobot could approach at any time and take you out without any one even noticing'

'Aww you _do _care'

Thundercracker grunted and flew back inside the ship

'Come on now Thunders.' She called apologetically 'don't be like that'

'Wait a minute' said Skywarp trying to get her attention 'What did you say was the reason you weren't fighting with the Decepticons?'

She stared at the black seeker and smiled

'Well think; if I was down there I would take down every Autobot before the others even fired a shot. Now tell me, where's the fun in that?'

_Inside the Ark_

'Air raid get your Aerialbots up there, Hotspot put that fire out, Perceptor co-ordinate a defensive!'

Jetfire shouted orders that no one followed as the panic continued. Autobots scattered from place to place as the Ark continued to spin. Jetfire stumbled and held a railing for support.

'Air Raid!' he shouted. He turned to his right and witnessed Beeper self-destruct; he shook his head, that didn't just happen, he thought. No one is committing suicide on this ship while he is command of it, even if it is only temporary.

'**Air Raid!**' He shouted again.

'_Already on it Jetfire' _

Air Raid and his team stood in the air lock equipping heavy weapons.

'Fireflight; watch Skydives six, Powerglide, provide covering for for me'n Cosmos, Blades transform.'

'But I donut…'

'Don't start with me Blades!'

Air razor attempted to attach a scatter blaster to no avail

'Not you Air razor; your eagle mode isn't suitable for combat in space'

'But what if I..'

'**Get out of here Air Razor!'**

The newly recruited Aerialbot dropped the scatter blaster and ran back into the Arks halls.

'Alright Aerialbots, time to attack' Air Raid opened the air lock and jetted out of the Ark with Aerialbots in tow. The Armada of Decepticons flew directly towards them.

_Within the Ark_

'Repugnus?!' Jetfire shouted at the top of his lungs, he turned on his intercom and contacted the Monsterbot

'Repugnus, I think now is a good time for you to give us some help'

'_Gee yah think I haven't noticed?'_ he replied sarcastically

Repugnus shut off the intercom and hopped onto Grotusque's back in beast mode.

'Alright Monsterbots, time to clean up the mess these so called Autobot's got themselves into'

Doublecross nodded as he opened the airlock and flew out of the ship alongside Grotusque and Repugnus.

The Monsterbots flew 6 meters and did a U-turn. The three of them re-entered the Ark and Repugnus hopped off of his fellow Monsterbots back. Jetfire rushed up to them furious with his arms raised as the trio stared at him blankly.

'We're boned'

'What the hell was that?! You didn't even stay out there for 2 minutes; I thought you guys weren't afraid of anything!'

Repugnus made a snarling sound with his teeth. 'You have. No. idea. How messed up it is out there, you sent your freakin air squad against an army of one-thousand. If you ask me-'

Jetfire lowered his arms

'One thousand?!'

'If you ask me, I say screw the Ark, we have a better chance to boot up the escape crafts and get the hell out of here, It would have worked for us and it could probably work for the Ark.'

Jetfire muttered under his breath

Repugnus shot him an annoyed glance and tilted his head,

'What? Speak up.'

'I said we don't have any escape crafts.

Repugnus laughed weakly and leaned against a nearby wall.

'Well we're absolutely Fuc-'

'_Jetfire, this is Jazz I have good news, bad news, and suspicious news.'_

'Suspicious news?'

'_Er yeah, come and see, the others and I are up on the Bridge'_

'I'm on my way Jazz, but cut the dramatic tensions, brief me on the news while I get there'

Jetfire helped up Repugnus and motioned the other Monsterbots to follow.

'_So which news would you like to hear first?'_

Repugnus jabbed at him gently 'take the bad news, it will make the good news look better in comparison'

He nodded at the Monsterbot 'What's the bad news Jazz?'

'_We lost contact with the Aerialbots, we think… they might've…'_

'As much as I hate to say this, we will worry about them later, what is the good news?'

'_The Decepticons have disappeared, the quakes we are experiencing right now are aftershocks from the initial attack, their ship is still here but the army just went off our scanners. They're Gone.'_

'That's good news?'

'_Well I figure them not attacking us is better than the opposite'_

There was a tone of disturbance in Jazz's voice _'As for the suspicious news, they are-'_

Jetfire entered the bridge and spotted Jazz across the room. Standing with him were other members of high command along with the few specialists. Jazz was in the center with Cliffjumper on his side. Standing exhausted around the room were Wheeljack, Pincher, Hotshot, Hound, Bluestreak, Trailbreaker and Red Alert. The absence of Perceptor and Ratchet sent a chill down his spine.

Jetfire approached Jazz and greeted Cliffjumper with a nod.

'Go on Jazz'

'As I was just saying, they are trying to call us.'

'What?'

Jetfire looked over Jazz's shoulder and spotted the flashing red light. He approached it cautiously before answering it.

A holographic image of Slipstreams head appeared in the room, Autobots backed away in shock as she spoke.

'Now Optimus, I believe that we need- hang on'

The hologram scanned the room.

'Where is Optimus Prime?'

Jetfire stepped forward 'He isn't here Decepticon, I am currently in command here and we ask that you-'

'Wait,wait,wait,wait,wait **Jetfire, **is that you?'

'How do you know my…. Slipstream?'

She laughed 'It **is **you, I knew you were with the Autobots but you're leading them now? Awesome'

'This isn't the point, call off your attack'

'Attack? What attack? If this was a proper attack, you all would have been dead by now, notice that we have disabled your ships weaponry and kept you from escaping yet we haven't killed a single one of you.'

'That isn't true. Beeper: minibot. He self-destructed when you rammed us with the Nemesis.'

'HAH!- uh I mean, that's a shame, that was not our intention.'

'Then answer me this' said Jazz' if you didn't kill anyone then what happened to Air raid and he others?'

'Oh look another Autobot I don't recognize, well my little friend by "Air raid" I assume you mean this thing right here'

The hologram zoomed out and Slipstreams full body was visible, Skywarp could also be seen standing behind her while a damaged bot kneeled between them.

'Air raid!'

The Aerialbot was charred black, his wings had been torn out and his chest looked as though it was carved open and scraped clean, a small flicker in his eyes was the only sign that he was alive.

'Hey is that Jetfire?' asked Skywarp

Slipstream ignored the seeker as he waved in the background

'Now don't look at me like that, it was hard to keep this guy alive in the first place, and to be fair. He shot first.'

'What do you want from us?' asked Jetfire

'For a truce of course'

Jetfire was shocked; he turned to the other Autobots who looked at him as if he had an answer then turned back to the hologram.

'A truce'

'Yup, you surrender to the Decepticons, and we work together to find a new home for us to rebuild'

Hound approached Jetfire and whispered into his audio receptor

'_As much as I want to believe it, it just seems too good to be true'_

He nodded at the green Autobot and turned back to Slipstream

'What's the catch?'

Slipstream put a hand on her hip and stared into the distance before coming up with an answer.

'No catch really' she said plainly 'you just serve the Decepticon cause, simple as that.'

'So what is that supposed to mean exactly, we help you conquer a world in exchange for our lives?' asked Hotshot

'Not… exactly, we both want peace, after that we find _a _planet, colonize it, perhaps change our names from Decepticons to- oh I don't know- Cybertronians, and recreate the golden age, then the decision to expand can be up for debate, see? Everybody wins!'

'I don't know…'

'Ah no worries Jetfire, take all the time you need to-'

'No' said Jetfire 'we decline'

Slipstream held in another laugh 'Well that was fast, shame; I was really hoping we could work together'

'I'm sorry Slipstream, as tempting as your offer is, there is no way we can just give up our freedom and let you turn us into slaves for universal domination'

'I forgive you'

She grabbed Air raid by the throat and threw him off the side of the Nemesis; he slowly floated away from the chaos as the light in his eyes flickered at a slower rate.

After muttering something to Skywarp, Slipstream turned back to the Autobots through the Holographic communicator.

'Welp I'm afraid that was your only offer. So we're going to actually have to kill you all now, kay bye!'

'Wait!' shouted Jetfire

Slipstream paused and stared at the bot in general.

'What is it?'

'Where is your army? How did you manage to make them disappear without a trace in mere minutes'

'The answer is below you' she smiled one last time before turning off the comm.

Jetfire paused to think about what she said "the answer is right below you" what did that mean?

It was Red alert who screamed in realization.

'What? What is it Red?!' asked Wheeljack frantically

'The hole! They flew beneath us and entered the hole at the bottom of the ship.'

Jetfire knew all too well about the hole in the bottom of the ship, the hole that was created after Soundwave mashed Sideswipes head into the side of a wall long enough to make a dent, that combined with Air raids missiles created the hole. It was what allowed the Autobots to sneak out and attack Razor claws army. But if the Decepticon's had entered the ark through the hole then…

'Oh my god' exclaimed Jetfire

'They're in the cell block!'

_The cell block… _

Hundreds of cheers and applause echoed throughout the block as Needlenose and the other members of the Air force dragged their guns across the cell bars.

'**Are you ready?!**' he shouted.

The imprisoned decepticons cheered unanimously.

'**Do you want it?!'**

They cheered louder

'**Do you need it?!'**

The imprisoned Decepticons began to angrily call out for the others to free them.

Slugslinger put a hand on Needlenose's shoulder who nodded in understanding.

'**Now you shall have it my Decepticons!'**

Needlenose tapped at the control panel.

'**Freedom!'**

Red alert stood outside the vacuum lift, arms trembling, he was ordered to wait outside the lift while Powerlock's team went down. To the left of Red was Jazz and Cliffjumper, to the right were Hound and Trailbreaker. Something bad was about t happen, he could sense it.

'The lift is coming up.' stated Hound

Just as he said, the lift reached its stop right in front of the five Autobots.

'**By the All spark!' **cried Trailbreaker

Powerlock and his team was dismembered limb from limb and shoved back into the lift.

Jazz raised his scatterblaster 'Everyone get back now!'

The lift exploded and the hundreds of Decepticons flooded through. Each one ready to get their revenge for being stuffed in their cell.

The Autobots immediately transformed and sped away minus Trailbreaker who summoned a forcefield to hold the decepticons at bay.

'Trailbreaker.' muttered Cliffjumper.

'I hate to say this Cliff but we will have to forget about him for now' said Jazz solemnly 'We need to get to Jetfire and get as far away from the Ark as possible'

'You reckon we just abandon the Ark?' asked Hound.

'Either that or we die here by the whole damned Decepticon army'

'How about we just admit we are going to die!' shouted Red Alert 'We are trapped here why don't we just-'

'_Guys it's me' _raioed Trailbreaker _'I don't know how much longer I can-'_

A crack appeared in the heart of the force field as Dirge readied a nucleon shock cannon.

'-hold it much longer'

Trailbreaker aimed his shoulder cannon above his head and fired at the ceiling; debris fell and bounced off the force field.

As the force field shattered, the black Autobot managed to jump off of Motormaster's skull and leaped for the hole in the ceiling. He caught the edge and tried to pull himself up. He cursed his weight and materialised a force field beneath his feet to push himself up and into the Med-bay above.

Barricade, Dragstrip and Dirt boss-with his turbo thrustors- bolted down the hallway ramming down Autobots. Dirt boss carried multiple Autobots in his fork and tossed them behind him, just as Artaqua and Hard-laser got to their feet, Motormaster would crush their heads under his wheels.

_The bridge…_

'I've fought in this war for a million years and not once have I ever seen the decepticons act like this. They are just mowing us down, moving on from target to target and keeping their wounded safe to fight again. It's like they're robots or something… oh wait-'

Jetfire rubbed his optics, 'Frankly Bluestreak, I don't give a **DAMN **about how they are killing us just so much as how we are going to get out of this.'

'I say we die fighting!' exclaimed Hotshot

'No, nobody else is dying here today' The Air commander pointed at a semicircle shaped door across the hall. 'We use the escape pods'

'What the hell?' said an angered Repugnus 'I thought you said you didn't have any escape pods?'

'We have no escape _crafts' _he corrected 'We have escape pods however there is no way to control them, we would have to drift aimlessly through space until we bump in to something.'

'What about the med bay?' asked Doublecross 'Ratchet told me that the whole thing was technically one big escape pod…?'

'It is,' answered Wheeljack 'it sounded like a crap idea at the time but now it-' Wheeljack paused for a minute and whipped out his repeater, he fired over Hotshots shoulder, killing a decepticon who was sneaking up behind him.

Hotshot leaped in surprise 'Holy- How did this guy get here so fast'

Grotusque examined the body of the dead Decepticon 'Who is this guy anyway?'

'Skullfire' answered Wheeljack 'one of the Unicons. Or was it Necrocons?'

'I don't care' said an exhausted Jetfire 'What matters is that the Decepticons are almost here and we need to get in the escape pods now.'

'Damn right you do'

The Autobots turned around to see Arcee standing with Cliffjumper, Jazz, Hound and Red Alert. The five Autobots each held serious wounds. Cliffjumper was holding onto Jazz for support.

'Guys! I can't believe you're all alive' said Bluestreak excitedly

'We need to abandon the Ark' said Jazz, 'We don't have much time left'

'What about the others?' Asked Jetfire 'What about Ratchet, Perceptor, Air Razor and the rest.'

'Anyone who hasn't already been killed is currently in the Med-bay, they said that they will be ready for launch any minute now.' said Arcee

'How are we supposed to believe that?' asked Hotshot 'For all we know you could have killed them!'

'Lock it down Hotshot!' ordered Jetfire. 'There is only room in each escape pod for two so pair up Autobots.'

Wheeljack put an arm around Pincher while Repugnus singled out Grotusque as the one who ejected all the escape pods on their ship. Jazz paired up with his partner Cliffjumper while Hound dragged Hotshot into a pod with him. Grotusque wrapped himself around Arcee and Bluestreak helped a trembling Red alert into an empty pod. That left Jetfire.

'You aren't coming?' asked Repugnus

'I'm going to see to it that The Med bay launches safely.'

'That's pretty extreme, you know?'

He raised his rocket cannon 'Yeah well, someone's got to do it.'

Repugnus chuckled 'That sounded way lame, even for your standards'

Jetfire grinned. 'That reminds me, if you ever see a bot named Ironhide; tell him that I should have listened to him'

'Whatever you say.' Repugnus motioned Doublecross and the two entered the pod.

Jetfire watched as the pods launched. One by one they drifed into the blackness of space, Jetfire spotted the Med bay floating away from the Ark. It must have launched itself already he thought.

Just as Jetfire tapped at another escape pod to access, a bright light from outside the Plexiglas window caught his attention.

It was the escape pods, all of them plus the Med bay exploded in large fireballs within a mile radius from the Ark.

'**NO!' **Screamed Jetfire.

The Air Guardian fell to his knees.

Jazz, Hotshot, Bluestreak, Red Alert, Wheeljack, Pincher, Arcee, Grotusque, Repugnus, Silverbolt, Ratchet, and the rest; were all engulfed in the explosion.

The door at the end of the hall was blasted open and the Decepticons flooded in.

He didn't know how to react, Jetfire raised his cannon but he couldn't find the motivation to fire. He felt oddly calm, as if he had accepted this fate. His arm was blasted off its hinge and the Decepticons advanced. Jetfire stared at the floor. This is it he thought, this is what he chose, all of this was his doing. He should have accepted Slipstreams offer, because he didn't, because he chose to say no, all of his friends were dead. He felt a presence standing before him but didn't bother looking up.

Slipstream raised his head and forced him to look at her in the optics.

'Jetfire, can you hear me?'

He nodded slowly

'I want to give you another offer'

He made no response.

'Come with us, Stay with us.'

She offered a hand.

Jetfire took it. He had become a Decepticon.

_The escape pods._

'Did it work?'

'Of course it worked; I told you my holograms are always the most realistic.'

Hotshot rubbed his forehead and laughed softly.

'Great job Hound, without you they probably would have vaporized us for real by now.'

The Orange and Yellow Autobot activated his radio uplink in the pod

'Hello? Is everyone else alright?'

'_This is Wheeljack, all things are good here Hotshot. I've already contacted with Bluestreak and Jazz, It looks like we all made it out okay.'_

Hotshot and Hound clapped and cheered 'Oh Yes! That is what I'm talking about'

Hound settled himself 'What about the med bay, did it get out unscathed?'

'_I saw it floating away after your magic trick' _Radioed Arcee '_it seems as though they made it out but are too far away to contact at the moment'_

Hotshot leaned back in his chair

'Just one question though.'

'_What's that_?' asked Wheeljack

'What Now?'


	14. The Last Autobot

AN: What so special about today? The fact that it's the end of the world? Nah. It is because it is winter. My least favourite season, anyways I have been real sick as of late, you know the kind of sick where you can't focus for the life of you. I also haven't had much time to work on this either due to school work as well. But hey, at least I'm not using it as an excuse. Now as I already mentioned it is winter- meaning that fall (or autumn if you call it that) is over, meaning that right now it is...

_**AFTER THE FALL **_

I am _so _cool.

* * *

"_Ninety-nine cubes of Energon on the wall, ninety-nine cubes of Energon. Take one down pass it around ninety-eight cubes of Energon on the wall!"_

_**- Jingle coined by Autobot Defensive strategist Trailbreaker at Macadam's to cheer up mourning Autobots during the war.**_

"_Organic beings have been observed to be much softer than us. That has already been established by my fellow scientists. However some appear to have strikingly similar biological features to us, despite their more …disgusting ones such as excreting waste…"_

_**-**__**Sky Commander- turned scientist - Starscream on the topic of organics.**_

"_I would gladly trudge through an ocean of corpses just to crush the life of the last Autobot. Do not forget that Zeta."_

_**-Megatron confronting Zeta Prime during the siege of Vos.**_

* * *

Tow cables latched onto the Ark, the golden shine that the titanic ship once bore was now a musty yellow-brown, the metal bent and curled as the sharp beak of the cable dug through and gripped on.

'That's it boys' called Skywarp 'Pull 'er up'

The Tow cables retracted and pulled the Ark up against the belly of the Nemesis. The Autobot ship was like a scab against the pristine ebony plating on the much larger Decepticon Warship.

All Jetfire could do was watch from one of the Nemesis' Plexiglas windows.

He was carrying a stack of boxes containing the last of what remained of his friends.

Ratchet's laser scalpel, Wheeljack's not so secret weapon blueprints, Bluestreak's stash of Engex, Perceptor's note book and even Cliffjumper's glass gas cannon. It was all he had left to remember them by or at least as some to keep them alive in spirit he supposed.

He let out a sigh and continued his trek to his new quarters. It was after Hook had scraped off his Autobrand and replaced it with a sleek new Decepticon symbol, that Jetfire was given his own quarters on the Nemesis. Dirge and a few of the Target masters had begged Slipstream to leave him to starve for Energon in the lower depths of the Nemesis. Slipstream insisted however that Jetfire -as a new Decepticon- should be treated with the respect any other Decepticon on the ship is treated with, and thus he was given a room, to share with another Decepticon of course.

Something hit Jetfire's leg and the air guardian fell dropping the boxes of memorabilia. The contents of the boxes were spread across the smooth purple and black floor. He got on one knee and reluctantly started scooping up as many of the fallen items as he could and placing them back gently in the box. He spotted Jazz's favourite cd collection behind him between Bluestreak's Engex and Hotshots secret portrait of Arcee. As Jetfire reached soberly for the cd case, a foot landed atop of it, crushing the cd's within. Jetfire gazed up to see Ramjet, the white and blue Targetmaster jet with a red visor: Slugslinger, Spinister and Quake, goading over the wrecked Cds.

Slugslinger chuckled and got down on one leg to reach Jetfire's eye level.

'Aww did the wittle Autobot drop his things?'

'He aint an Autobot anymore' said Quake matter-of-factly 'All them Autobots are roasted!' he said with an echoing laugh.

Ramjet kicked Jetfire's side causing the bot to fall onto his stomach.

'I reckon we should give him a proper welcome to the decepticon ranks no?'

Quake and Slugslinger nodded in agreement and kicked at Jetfire's head until all the Autobot could see were blurs.

Slugslinger turned around and shot a glance at Spinister who was standing on his own with his arms crossed.

'Hey Spinny you aren't gonna give this Autobot a few lessons? Believe me it's more fun than it looks, and don't pretend this doesn't already look incredibly fun.'

The purple copter Decepticon pointed a finger towards a figure behind Slugslinger.

The Targetmaster spun his head around to see a tall blue seeker frowning at the Decepticons

'Hey Thundercracker, care to join us?'

'What the hell are you doing?'

Slugslinger signalled Ramjet and Quake to stop kicking and rubbed his hands together.

'Relax man we were just having some fun is all.'

Thundercracker crossed his arms. 'I ought to report this to Slipstream, she'd have a fit if she were to find out our "new recruit" was mistreated on his first day here.'

Slugslinger's expression lowered 'Hey man we were just messing around.' He turned to Ramjet and quake with a fake smile hiding gritted teeth. 'Right guys?'

Ramjet nodded vigorously while Quake stood and laughed.

'Relax Slingslugger.'

'Wha- its Slugslinger you dolt'

Ramjet snickered to himself 'I bet anyone 10 shanix that they can't say his name five times fast.'

'Slugslinger, Slugslinger, Slugslinger, Slugslinger, Slugslinger'

'Ah Shuddup Spinister'

Spinister did as he was told.

'Whatever!' shouted Quake as he got up close to Thundercracker 'My point is who cares, I can crush this guy in a couple a seconds, and then he wouldn't even bother to…to… bother us no more.'

'You sure about that?' asked Thundercracker

Before Quake could answer, a large fist appeared from above Quake's head and came down on his skull knocking out the large tank Decepticon immediately.

'Sorry about this' said Spinister. 'He can hit hard but believe me he's as fragile as glass' he said as he began dragging the unconscious Quake away.

Thundercacker gave a stern look to Ramjet and Slugslinger

'Right, we're leaving now.' said Ramjet

The two scurried off as Thundercracker offered a hand to Jetfire.

The former air guardian slapped his hand away and pulled himself to his feet, his chassis was covered in dents from the Decepticons kicks.

Thundercracker gave him some space. 'You're welcome' he said plainly

Jetfire glared at him, his face was wrinkled with anger and grief. Thundercracker couldn't blame him, losing all of your friends was an almost unfathomable concept to comprehend.

"'You're welcome"?' he laughed nervously 'What exactly am I supposed to thank you for? Betraying the Autobot cause? For murdering anyone I ever cared about? For ruining my life in ways the war had never…'

Jetfire stopped himself and leant on the railing next to the Nemesis' window panes.

Thundercracker rolled his optics. 'Actually I was expecting thanks for keeping those guys off of you.'

'Why are you doing this?' asked Jetfire

'What do you mean?'

'Why do you all still bother with me, Slipstream could have had me killed back when you killed the Autobots, so why didn't you finish me off to?'

Thundercracker leant on the railing next to him, 'I don't expect you to believe us but we had no intention of killing or even enslaving any of you, in fact we were planning on trapping the escape pods as they were launched however… they uh sort of blew up before we got to them. We're still trying to figure out who did it.' He took a moment to think of what else to say. 'You're the last Autobot Jetfire, I'm certain Slipstream is holding on to you as a way to make up for letting your friends die.'

'Can you answer me this?'

The seeker paused before replying. 'What is it?'

'Why did you join the Decepticons?'

'You were there, can't you figure that out?'

'Oh I'm sorry you're right, in that case mind telling me why you didn't leave the Decepticons the minute you had the oppurtunity? I know you Thundercracker, you aren't one of them.'

Thundercracker slammed his hand against the railing.

'Shut up Jetfire! I came here to help but if you are going to ramble on like this then I might as well have never bothered coming!'

As Thundercracker stomped away Jetfire thought over his actions. Perhaps he should have said something _nicer_, if he were to live the rest of his life as this nightmare than he might as well have made it a tad brighter.

'We still talk about you sometimes y'know?'

Jetfire looked up to see Thundercracker, he was still only a few meters away but his back was turned.

'Me and Skywarp, every once in a while, we would say things like "I wonder what Jetfire's doing right now" "The Autobot that refused Megatron and lived" You joined the enemy but you were still our friend, Jetfire.'

Jetfire remained silent. Thundercracker stood still for a response before continuing his trek down the hallway without looking back. The minute Thundercracker turned the corner, Jetfire grabbed the last of his memorabilia into the boxes. Now where were his quarters, he wondered. He placed the boxes back on the floor and took out his data pad. _149_ was his room number, He looked over at the rooms at the other side of the hall._ 146… 147…148… _Ah it was right there all along. He picked up his things and knocked on the door, hopefully his roommate would be a _nice _Decepticon. That is if one of them ever existed.

The door opened and a small black Decepticon stood before Jetfire.

'Welp looks like we're roommates eh?' said the Decepticon

'You?'

'Yeah, I overheard you talking with _"Slipstream's favourite" _outside.

'Barricade you…'

'Yeah, I was there too so I know what happened, and believe me when I say you shouldn't be hard on him, there are more Decepticons that joined out of fear of Megatron than you realize.'

'Actually I was about to ask if there was more than one recharge slab.'

Barricade looked back and grinned at him slyly.

'No, you'll have to sleep on the floor bud'

Jetfire shrugged and left his boxes in the corner of the room.

'Help me set up my stuff at least'

Barricade shrugged and helped move the boxes.

* * *

_Cybertron_

Shockwave stretched his body as he observed Cybertron's landscape, the molten alloy and metal shavings lined the drained Energon Lake, metal fires dotted the ruins and the toppled skyscrapers that once stood tall.

It made Shockwave feel sick to his stomach. He remembered something Megatron had told him soon after Trypticon had been reconfigured into the Nemesis.

_As sentimental as it may seem to remain on Cybertron, there is a high chance that it may never return to its former glorious state._

As Shockwave scanned the horizon one last time, he knew that what Megatron said was correct, It was also the perfect excuse for him to leave for the stars and conquer other worlds. He stared up at the starry sky.

'Fear not Megatron, Cybertron shall remain as you left it.' He clenched his fist.

'Unfortunately…'

'Shockwave'

The one eyed scientist turned around to see his newest experiment standing with a hand on his hip.

'Venom says that he and the three other Insecticons are ready to board the ship.'

'Tell them to disregard that, they will remain here'

'Sir?'

'They need to stay here and rebuild this world Blitzwing, once they have completed the proper procedure, only then may they rejoin us'

He placed his hands behind his back 'They will also watch my unfinished experiments while I am gone'

Blitzwing nodded but didn't leave.

'Is there something else Bltzwing?'

'Yes, What of Bruticus?' Shockwave heard the large footsteps of the combiner approaching followed by a grunting noise.

'Speak of the devil'

Bruticus kneeled so that he could look at Shockwave face to eye.

'Yes. What of me Shockwave?'

'You shall also remain here Bruticus; you will be the last Decepticon - The Guardian of Cybertron.'

Bruticus grunted and made his way back to his post standing atop of the building.

Shockwave turned to Blitzwing once again. His eye fixated on the experiments face.

'We shall be leaving soon Blitzwing, are you ready?'

'Yes sir'

'Then follow me to the shuttle'

Shockwave leaped into the air and transformed into his jet mode, he hovered for a moment before jetting to the top of the structure where Bruticus and the Insecticons waited.

Shockwave transformed back to robot mode and landed on his feet just meters away from the rocket. Blitzwing soon followed however the minute he transformed to robot mode his face had changed into a black face with large red eyes and a spikey red mouth.

'Oooooh boy I just love rocket ships!'

'Blitzwing, change to Jet mode and back immediately' ordered shockwave.

'Rocket ships! Rocket ships!' he sang

Shockwave rubbed his optic

'BLITZWING!'

'Ooooh okay'

The Decepticon transformed to Jet mode and back, he fell to one knee and held his head. His face was back to normal. Venom and Chopshop chuckled behind his back from the show he put on.

'Sorry Shockwave, I just… my condition.'

Shockwave raised a hand to silence him 'I know Blitzwing, your behaviour is excusable now it is about time we left'

He turned to the orange and green Insecticon that stood in front of the rest.

'Venom, as leader of the Insecticons, I assume you understand that you will look after my experiments with the same care I have.'

He took a bow 'Of course master Shockwave'

Hardshell scoffed as Shockwave turned.

'Now then, let us go Blitzwing.'

The Decepticon followed Shockwave into the shuttle leaving the Insecticons and Bruticus outside.

Venom turned to Chopshop. 'I hate that guy.'

Hardshell looked at him shocked 'How can you say that? He made you guys didn't he?'

'Sure he did, but that doesn't mean I have to like him'

Hardshell shrugged 'Yeah I guess that makes sense'

Bruticus waved as the shuttle took off and left the atmosphere.

Chopshop rubbed his hands together 'whatever, who wants to play Auto ball?'

Venom raised a brow 'Auto ball?'

'Yeah!' he said excitedly 'you see you take the heads of 37 Autobots- no more no or less-, and you try and put them all in a net made of Aerialbot wings'

'Awesome!' exclaimed Kickback

'I know right?!'

Venom scratched his cheek and sighed 'Look man I love me some violence as much as the next guy but do we really have to?'

'What else do you expect us to do?'

He rubbed his chin 'Good point'

Chopshop did a fist pump and walked away with Kickback skipping in tow. Just as Venom was about to leave with them, he stopped to examine Hardshell who was perplexed by something.

'You coming Hardshell?'

'You don't smell that?'

'Smell what?'

Hardshell rushed up to him

'Something is coming towards us, something alien'

'What?! What do you-'

'There's no time! We have to go before it….'

A massive spaceship hovered above the Insecticons, one that had a symbol that resembled a part mechanical part organic face, that resembled an upside down green Nemesis, that had a scanner on board that could identify every Cybertronian on the planet, and that also had a red tractor beam that was lifting a thrashing Bruticus into the air.

'…gets us, Decepticons attack'

Chop shop and Kickback rushed back and began firing at the ship to no avail. A large cannon emerged from the side of the ship and fired at the ground below their feet sending the Insecticons scattered in all directions.

* * *

_Five minutes later_

Kickback managed to push the debris of the destroyed lab off of him.

'Hardshell, Bruticus?'

He wandered

'Chopshop?'

He looked up to see Bruticus and the rest of the Insecticons pulled into the massive spaceship by its red tractor beam.

Kickback tilted his head and sat down with his legs crossed. The spaceship had flown back outside of Cybertron atmosphere, back to wherever it came from.

What now? He thought. Shockwave just left with Fistfight and Blitzwing. And a weird alien ship just kidnapped Bruticus, Venom, Chopshop and Hardshell. Now he was the last person on Cybertron, well that wasn't entirely true, a metal Pteranodon swooped down and stood in front of him.

* * *

_Beast Planet_

'Well this is just fine and dandy eh?'

'Not really Snarler, the whole army has been decimated by the Terrorcons, The Autobot's left, and The Pred's won't even speak to us.'

'You moron Stranglehold, I was being sarcastic.'

'Oh'

Octopunch approached them annoyed. 'C'mon guys we shouldn't be fighting over stupid scrap like this. I mean just look around, there are only like- what- 17 of us left.'

Among the ruins of the Predacon village, the former guards of Razorclaw: Snarler, Carnivac, Stranglehold and Octopunch, all stood in a circle among the other survivors. The fire cons huddled together around a fire they created themselves while Razorclaw and the other Predacons stood on their own atop the ruins of a caved in ship. Razorclaw had his back to the others.

Snarler rested his head in his hand 'Well there isn't much else we can do besides-' his head jolted up, 'You guys hear something?'

The bushes behind them rustled and a metallic saber tooth tiger leaped out and transformed into a grey and yellow robot.

Catilla made a small waving gesture. 'Hey guys'

Octopunch, Stranglehold and Snarler all drew their swords while Carnivac picked a flower to use as a weapon having dropped his sword when running from Piranacon the other day.

Snarler edged his blade closer to Catilla's neck

'Traitor!'

'Now hear me out guys-'

'No!' shouted Stranglehold 'You killed,…. That one guy… you know with the feet?'

'Okay I have a perfect explanation for that. That guy was fighting the Autobots while a massive combining monster was tearing us apart. We needed to work together, it was the only way we could have stopped that thing. Come on Carnivac, you of all bots should know that it was for the best'

Carnivac walked up to him and started hitting him with his flower

'Uh… wait what are you doing?'

The mute robot continued to brush the flower against Catilla's face.

'Guys?' interrupted Octopunch

'What is it?'

He pointed at the sky. Above them was the Nemesis in all its glory, minus the Ark that hung on its belly.

Soon enough the Nemesis landed and a group of Decepticons walked out. Leading them was Slipstream who approached Razorclaw and his Predacons with an open hand.

'You must be this Razorclaw character I've heard so much about

'How do you know of me?' asked the suspicious Predacon.

'I have been told of you by a friend- Oh! There he is now'

Emerging from the jungle was a blue Decepticon who made a beeline for Slipstream.

'I thank you for coming to retrieve me Lord Slipstream' Soundwave said while bowing his head.

She patted the larger Decepticon on the shoulder 'Of course we came to retrieve you, but there is someone else we came for as well'

She turned her head to Razorclaw and smiled. 'Razorclaw, you showed initiative and meaning for the decepticon cause, with some work you could become a great Decepticon.'

Razorclaw looked stunned 'you-you do?'

'Of course! Hop aboard and take any of these guys with you, we have plenty of room to spare and the more the merrier right?'

'Wait so does that mean I'm a true Decepticon?'

'Yeah sure I guess so.'

Razorclaw grabbed her hand and got on one knee. Thundercracker laughed a little too loud.

'I thank you miss, I am forever in your debt for allowing me and my Predacons to off of this terrible planet.

'Hahah' she slapped his hand away '…don't touch me.'

'Hey Slipstream' called Skywarp.

He rushed outside of the Nemesis and greeted her and Soundwave.

'Me and the others were talking and we were thinking maybe we should explore this place, there could be amazing secrets, spooky mysteries and shocking revelations.'

Slipstream rubbed her chin 'Y'know that sounds awesome. Maybe staying here would be-'

Slipstream took a step back and felt a slimy substance under her foot.

'What the-'

'Ah I see what that is' said an approaching Decepticon. The Decepticon was black with multiple limbs and a hunch back

'This is the disposed waste of the carbon based life forms that live on this planet'

Flatline stared up at Slipstream

'In other words Slipstream, you're stepping in "Poop"'

Slipstream turned to Skywarp

'We are getting off this planet right now Skywarp'

'But-'

'Right **NOW!**'

As the Decepticons re-boarded the Nemesis, Catilla noticed his old friends joining them, before he knew it he was the only one standing outside the massive warship. So much for the whole _Maximal _Idea he thought. Catilla transformed to saber tooth mode and sprinted onto the Nemesis. It will happen one day he thought. One day.

* * *

Grimlock stared at the nemesis and growled.

'That Decepticon cruiser'

He felt the metallic wolf nudge his leg.

'You still here?'

The wolf kept nudging him.

'Whatever' he noticed a part of the Nemesis that was different from the rest of it, something that looked like-

'The Ark!'

Grimlock struggled to put his mind together, ever since he destroyed Shockwave's power tower and was sent hurdling through the space bridge, he had found it harder to make up his mind than when he suffered through Shockwave's experiments. And the nightmares, god the nightmares, they have been worse than ever, before he only had nightmares of his past. Hearing Optimus Prime announce the mass wide exodus, losing Sludge, watching as Shockwave tore off Grimlock's head with his machinery, the pain when being subjected to Shockwaves tests, transforming for the first time in weeks only to turn into a monster, the feeling he got when being forced through space and time. But now he has had nightmares of things that have never happened and would most likely never will, An funny Autobot begging Megatron to be saved, a purple being blowing off the head of an unidentifiable seeker where all would be left of his head would be a lower jaw , and possibly the most odd, Autobots and Decepticons living together.

Grimlock lost his trail of thought when he noticed the Nemesis' thrusters begin to scorch the ground. He was not going to be stuck on this planet any longer.

Grimlock grabbed the wolf with one hand and pulled out his sword with the other. He ran screaming as loud as he could, as he ran he thought of the Autobots that were left to fight the Decepticon invasion after he abandoned them. What would they think if he met up with them again, would they be mad? Would they court martial him, would they even sentence him to death? _Who cares _he thought, he would worry about that after he got off the planet. He noticed a large hole in the bottom of the wrecked Ark, _If I reach that then I can crawl through. _ As the Nemesis lifted itself off the ground, Grimlock jumped. He reached for the ledge with his sword. The sword missed entirely and Grimlock began to fall.

'**NO!**' Grimlock's body expanded and transformed into a Tyrannosaurus, the beasts jaw managed to latch itself to the ship just as it took off. As he calmed down, Grimlock pulled himself up with his feet and his Jaw, he transformed back upon entering the lower decks of the Ark and looked down by his feet, the wolf had still clung on to him.

'Persistant little guy'

The Dinobot sensed some movement ahead of him; he looked up to see a figure turn around a corner.

There was no mistakening it, Starscream was on board as well.

* * *

_Space_

'Oooooooooooh 48 cubes of Energon on the wall ninety-nine cubes of Energon! Take one down pass it around, 47 cubes of Energon on the wall! 47-'

'Hotshot, could you please keep it down a notch?' asked Jazz

'Yeah'added Wheeljack 'We don't need to hear the same friggin song over and over again!'

'No offence guys but how do you think I feel?' replied Hound who was sitting right next to the singer.

'Hey guys I'm just trying to lift the mood know? No need to yell.'

'I…_' _Wheeljack rubbed his forehead _'_You're right, I'm just a tad frustrated you know? I'm sorry Hotshot, go on'

'Actually that may not be the best Idea' radioed Bluestreak 'Red's kind of freaking out a bit he seems to- no wait he's calmed down a bit now I think he just needs some quiet.'

'I liked the singing'said Pincher

'Alright guys I'm done singing don't worry about it.'

'_Get… OFF!'_

'You okay Arcee?'

'Grotusque keeps ticking me off, Wheeljack, you didn't happen to build an escape podwithin each escape pod in case the person you are stuck with is so annoying that you want to just get rid of them?'

'As a matter of fact yes, there is a switch beneath the right arm of your chair that opens up the pod-pod, and there should be a switch on the wall next to the communicator.'

'Wait seriously? One: I was just Joking, Two: pod-pod is the best name for an escape pod within an escape pod and three: I…HEY! Okay Grotusque is definitely getting in the pod-pod!'

Over the intercom the other Autobots heard a mix grunts, yelling and shouting followed by Arcee saying goodbye to Grotusque.

The pod-pod detached from the side of its mother pod and floated beside it aimlessly.

Hotshot yawned 'Well I'm bored now, Bluestreak you gossip a lot right?'

'Are escape pods extremely uncomfortable? Of course I know a lot of gossip!'

'Great! Can you tell a story or something to pass the time?'

'Yeah why not, what do you want to hear about?'

'How about…' Hotshot stopped to think and smiled upon remembering. 'Why don't you tell us a story about Velocitron?'

Jazz covered his visor 'Oh for the love of- I thought I told you all that there is no such thing about Velocitron!'

'What is with you Jazz?!' said an annoyed Bluestreak 'Why can't I tell the kid a story'

'Because Velocitron is nothing but one big lie, believe me we are all better off not knowing about it'

Cliffjumper pulled his partner away from the communicator and glared at him.

'Bluestreak is right, what **is **with you?'

Jazz pushed him aside and listened to Bluestreak on the other side of the communicator.

'Seriously I hadn't mentioned this before but it was you who first told me about Velocitron, wasn't it Jazz? You were so enthusiastic about it too, what happened back then Jazz?'

Jazz opened his mouth but no words came out from it. Hound's voice broke the silence.

'Jazz I don't know what happened but right now I think taking a look outside would be more important.'

Jazz did as he was told.

A massive planet was in the distance, it was larger than the beast planet but still not as big as Cybertron. It was red and brown in colouring and several odd lines dotted its surface.

'What is that?' asked Hotshot

'That's it' said Jazz

'What is?'

'That's Velocitron.'

* * *

I should mention that the quotes at the beggining are going to be a thing now unless people find it annoying or something.


	15. Peace time

Dont you just love when a chapter comes only a few days after the last? So I was going over the first chapter of After the fall and I couldn't stand how bad it looked compared to what I have done now. I edited a few grammar issues and sentences to make them sound better, but then I saw a colossal mistake I made. Warpath explains that Jazz managed to retrieve Bumblebee's body from outside, in reality it was supposed to be Jazz tried to retrieve his body however it was swept away from the portal. Very sorry about that, I will be sure not to make any big errors like that again

* * *

'So guys, it will only take a few minutes for us to burn up through the planet's atmosphere and die right?'

There was a silence over the comms.

'Well it's true isn't it?'

'Not necessarily Arcee' corrected Wheeljack 'Now if we can all shut up for a moment and let the genius talk then maybe we can work this out, okay? Okay…'

'Now I want everyone to press the blue button that is sort of shaped like a wrench next to the radio transmitter, got it?'

'Yup'

'Yeah'

'Nope… just kidding yes'

'Done it.'

'Sweet, now your escape pod should be cloaked in a heat retardant forcefield, designed by guess who?'

'Trailbreaker?' asked Hotshot

'Wha- No not Trailbreaker, by me of course- anyways, next grab that … nob, I think it's a nob, well just grab it and turn it 180 degrees left… wait sorry I mean right. Done? Good, now all of our pods should stay within a 3 mile distance when we land. Finally if you flick the switch on your glove department, it will open and some Energon snacks should be in there for you to munch on. Except yours Grotusque, I'm afraid you will be unable to do any of the above with your pod-pod.'

'Mmph?!'

'What'

'I think his pod is so cramped that it is impossible for him to move his jaw' said Bluestreak

'It is, believe me' said Arcee.

'Wait a sec Wheeljack' Hound asked 'I don't see a forcefield of any kind outside our pods, are they invisible or something?'

'No… Wait what?!' Wheeljack jumped out of his seat and banged his head on the top of the pod. 'Ow- I mean yeah totally they are just invisible don't worry about it heheh'

'You sure 'bout that Wheeljack?' asked a skeptical Arcee.

'Of course!'

Wheeljack turned to Pincher in his escape pod and whispered to him

'Pincher We're screwed, I haven't said this to anyone so I think I will make my peace, I know we just met like a day ago but you are my best –and only- friend… the guys in the other escape pods think I'm their friend but in reality I really hate them'

Pincher tilted his head as Wheeljack spoke '…What?'

'Wheeljack…' said Hound over the radio 'We can still hear you'

'Er Hahah, I don't know what you're talking about?'

'Yeah don't go thinking we think of you as a close friend either. Wheel-Jerk' said Cliffjumper gruffly

'Whatever, let's... hey!' The escape pod shook and Wheeljack toppled over.

'Well guys' announced Bluestreak 'looks like we are being pulled into Velocitron atmosphere'

Each of the Autobots held on to whatever they could as their pods began to shake from the pressure.

'Who's pod is closest to burning up- I mean reaching the atmosphere.' asked Wheeljack

'Bluestreak's' replied Jazz 'they are just about to enter-'

Bluestreak's scream could be heard throughout all the pods as fire surrounded his.

'AHHHHH PRIMUS NOOOOO!'

'Bluestreak!' shouted the Autobots simultaneously

'What?' he replied casually.

Murmurs of confusion echoed over the communicators.

'What- The- Hell- just happened?' asked Hotshot

'I opened the glove compartment and all the snacks fell out and onto the floor, I am **really **upset about that!'

'But, your pod is surrounded in fire!' said Hotshot 'You don't feel yourself burning up in the atmosphere?'

Bluestreak picked an Energon chip off of the floor of his pod and started chewing on it

'Mmm. No, why would I? The invisible force field negates heat just as Wheeljack said remember?'

'Aha!' Wheeljack jumped and hit his head on the ceiling again but this time shrugged it off.

'I told you it would work'

The rest of the pods soon entered the atmosphere as well, flames searing down the sides of each one.

Hound observed balls of light dotted around the planet and smiled

'It's beautiful'

Hotshot shot him an awkward glance 'Hm?'

'The planet, any planet really, I have always wanted to travel to one besides Cybertron but never got around to doing so' He let out a happy sigh 'It's a shame I was in stasis for most of the time on the Beast planet. I would even go so far to say I wished we could stay longer had I not been nearly killed by an animal transformer, anyways my point is I am really happy to be able to visit another new world'

Hotshot raised a brow 'Wow Hound I was not aware you thought like that.'

'Well I'm afraid we aren't quite out of the woods yet Hound' said Wheeljack 'We have gotten through the atmosphere but we still may not survive the-'

_CRASH!_

* * *

_12 minutes later, give or take_

_Damage levels: low, beginning repairs… ... done._

Wheeljack punched open the pod and rested his arms around the edges.

'Geez that was a lot more painful than I was hoping for.' He reached into the pod and helped out the small black and blue robot within.

'How you doin' Pinch?'

The Autobot tilted his head and blinked before answering.

'Good.'

Wheeljack sighed 'Uh, Look man I know I told you we're friends and all but your lack of sentences with more than three syllables is getting kind of creepy.'

Pincher shrugged before peering into the distance Wheeljack followed his gaze and spotted another pod among the seemingly endless horizon of red sand and highway supported on metal beams.

'Hey!' he yelled waving.

Hound and Hotshot emerged from the pod; they quickly spotted them and waved back. The two bots transformed and raced towards them leaving the empty pod behind.

'Sup Wheeljack, Pincher.' said Hotshot with a wave.

'How you guys doin'?'

'Not bad' said Hound who was checking a scar under his arm 'A little rusty but nothing to worry about'

Wheeljack nodded and turned to Hotshot who was doing stretches.

'What's up with you, kid?'

'Are you kidding? I can't wait to see the look on Jazz's face when-'

'When what?' Jazz stood with his arms crossed, Cliffjumper by his side.

'You said it didn't exist! That Velocitron was a myth, but here we are now, on a planet you said was – and I quote - "Velocitron"! What do you got to say about that?'

Jazz shook his head and shot his grapple onto the long supported highway above and pulled himself up.

Hotshot slumped 'Jazz, I didn't mean to offend him or anything.'

Cliffjumper sighed 'I am going to talk to him' he looked up at the highway and scanned the Autobots surrounding him. 'Can anyone give me a boost'

'Sure I can fly you up.' said Wheeljack.

'Good' Cliffjumper replied.

The red Autobot turned around and stared at the highway again 'I tell you Jazz hasn't been the same since Bluestreak brought up- wait Wheeljack you can fly?!'

'Eh? Not really it's more so a, ah. "super jump"' he patted his wings on his back 'See my trusty, thrusty thruster pack here can launch me up into the air, of course it has to recharge for another 20minutes- but still pretty neat huh?'

'I honestly have no idea what to say.'

'No need. Just hold on to my flashing head panels'

Cliffjumper did as he was told.

'And as Powerglide would say; "and awaaaay we g" –AHHHHHHH'

The two Autobots shot themselves up into the air and across the sky from Wheeljack's thruster pack.

Pincher rubbed his visor and stared up at the sky.

'Amazing' he muttered.

'Hey guys.'

The three Autobots turned to see Bluestreak with an arm around Red alert.

'Red's sick, I think he spent a little too much time in the pod.'

Pincher examined him before looking back at the other Autobots.

'He'll be fine'

'Uh okay' said Hotshot who awkwardly walked past the black and blue bot to help hold Red alert to his feet.

'Hold on' said Hound, 'what about Arcee and Grotusque?'

'They are probably just a few miles away' answered Bluestreak

'Who cares?' replied Hotshot

'I care…' said Pincher

Hotshot leaned in to whisper to Bluestreak 'Is it just me or is this the most this little guy's said in like… ever?'

* * *

Jazz stared down the empty highway, he clenched his fist and went deep into thought, he needed to forget about this place, things change. It must be different. It has to be different, please by Primus let it be different.

Jazz's chain of thought was broken by a blaring horn from behind. Jazz whipped out his scatter blaster and aimed it at the vehicle behind him; it was a large truck that was at least 10 times the size of Jazz. Panels opened at either side and a group of robots walked out. One of them stepped forward and cleared his throat.

'Are you here to visit the speed planet' he asked.

Jazz transformed his arm back to normal and stepped closer.

'Er yeah me and my friends and I were just drifting through space before we crashed here.'

'Friends?'

'Yeah' Jazz walked over to the edge of the highway and pointed at the 5 robots below 'The Black and red one with the head crest is Bluestreak, I know what you are thinking "he's not blue" he gets kind of angry if you bring that up though, The red and white one is Red Alert, the red and yellow on is Hotshot, the black and blue one with the faceplate, visor, horns and tail is Pincher, and green one is Hound. There are two others that were just here a moment ago but-'

Wheeljack and Cliffjumper crashed landed right in front of them, smoke emerging from Wheeljack's thruster pack.

'Oh, that would be them'

* * *

_Nemesis_

_Three Decepticons sit together on a metal sofa playing a videogame, one that involves shooting of course._

'Yes, Yes, Yes…. Ah Damn it' Needlenose through his controller across the room.

'I don't get it Spinister, How do you manage to get so many kills?'

The larger bot shrugged. 'Just takes practice I guess'

'Oh come on man, there's got to be something to it, I play every day and then you just come in with more points than I could ever have scored'

'Actually Spinister is only _okay' _said Fireshot who sat between them.

The Door swung open and Quake barged in.

'Sup nerds'

'Oh hell'

The Purple tank Decepticon wrapped his arms around his two target master partners

'You playing videogames? Hah freaking loser's'

Needlenose jabbed a finger in his face 'Actually Quake, these are a perfect simulation of real life battle, this is necessarily target practice.'

Spinister raised a hand 'Actually, if we were doing this for target practice, then we would have been doing _actual _target practise with Cyclonus and the others.'

'Hey man I thought you were on my side?' He shook his head 'Ah never mind, I wouldn't want Slugslinger, Triggerhappy and Misfire to feel jealous of our awesome shooting accuracy'

Quake was staring at the screen with a confused look

'Wait, isn't this a multiplayer game? Who else is there to play with in the galaxy besides us? Megatron?'

'We are playing with other people in the ship' Answered Fireshot 'On our team is Vanquish, Power punch, Direct-hit, Meltdown and Half-track; they are playing in the other room'

'So who are you playing against?'

Fireshot scratched the back of his head 'Not sure but they are **good**'

'Yeah' Needlenose added 'I bet they are awesome Decepticon warriors that have fought in the war for centuries!'

* * *

_Soundwave's quarters_

'Aww yeah we are the best!'

Rumble, Frenzy, Overkill, Carnivac, Snarler, Octopunch, Stranglehold and Slugfest all huddled around the monitor with controllers in hands and jaws. Soundwave sat behind them reading a data pad.

'Shuddit Frenzy' snapped Snarler 'Overkill, what, are you doing?'

'I can't- my arms are too tiny, they can't reach some of the buttons'

'At least you _have _hands' remarked Rumble who's controller was dented from his pile drivers

Stranglehold rubbed his brow 'Idiots'

* * *

'Pfft you guys are lame' said Quake sarcastically

As Quake got up to leave, someone began knocking on the door.

'It's Thrust! Let me in!'

Needlenose groaned 'Damnit I hate Thrust, maybe if we stay quiet he will leave.'

'I heard he was kicked out of the Seekers' said Fireshot 'apparently he was kicked for… er what was it again?'

'Not knowing when to shut up?' answered Spinister

'Ah that's the one.'

'Seriously guys let me in, I have orders from Slipstream!'

Needlenose nodded at Quake 'Let him in'

Quake opened the door and Thrust walked in, He was a cone head seeker like Dirge and Ramjet however with less bulk, he also had two rotors within the wings on his legs.

'You didn't answer your communicator, then again neither are a lot of other people on board. You think the connection is bad here? Because I only have a few bars, Oh did I mention? One of those Predacons… the bird one, _scratched _me! I-'

Needlenose's eyes narrowed 'Get on with it Thrust'

'Right, cool, anyways Slipstream will be making a speech, now that we have the Predacons and Soundwave on board… oh and those other animal guys that came along as well, she wants to address our success'

'Aight'

Needlenose, Fireshot and Spinister through away the controllers, got off the sofa, and followed Thrust and Quake out into the hallways

* * *

_30 minutes until The Speech_

Soundwave mouthed the words on the data pad as he read it over again. He stood up and walked outside of his quarters leaving the casseticons and Predacon guards within.

He took one last look at the data pad before moving towards the bridge

_Slipstream must know._

* * *

_Cybertron_

The Dinobot spent nearly a minute examining the damaged Insecticon before raising his baster and aiming it at his head.

'I don't know what just happened to your friends or why, and I don't care, I just want you to take me to Slug.'

Kickback stared at him. His face unreadable under the faceplate and visor, finally as if nothing had happened -as if the alien spaceship that kidnapped Bruticus and the Insecticons had never appeared- he spoke.

'Ah you mean Tricerabot! Yes yes, I'll take you to him…'

Swoop lowered his gun and looked up at the cloudy sky

'Thankfully'

* * *

_Nemesis_

Catilla stood in the middle of the hallway; it was as if his whole world was changed. Not only was the people that saved him and the beast planet dead, but he was now living among the cons that killed them. That killed the Autobots, but more importantly: Chainclaw. He was told it was an accident, they were going to capture the Autobots, but someone had apparently gotten triggerhappy and fired an explosive that engulfed the escape pods and the med bay -turned escape craft. That Decepticon would be found soon to answer for his crimes.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Chainclaw was still alive somehow, perhaps his stasis pod survived or he tiptoed out of the ark before launch, all he could tell was that Chainclaw was alive somewhere and all of the Autobots were dead, well that wasn't entirely true.

'Jetfire?' Catilla spotted the air guardian from across the hall. When he turned to face Catilla he shot him a look of grief and disappointment as he approached.

'Catilla? What are you doing here?'

'I-I went with the other guards I- Jetfire what are you doing here alive?'

Jetfire tapped the Decepticon symbol on his chest

'I was offered to join the Decepticons after everyone else had...'

'Don't, I know Jetfire we don't have to talk about it.'

The two stood in silence until Jetfire looked at him straight in the optic.

'Why did you say you came on board again?'

'Everyone else left and I was going to be left behind, I couldn't stay by myself Jetfire I'm sure you understand.'

Jetfire shook his head 'I hate to say I am rather disappointed in you, I really thought you had the right idea on Beast but now…' He turned away 'I don't know Catilla you have made some questionable decisions' In his head Jetfire screamed at himself _I am one to talk, my last big choice killed all of the Autobots on the Ark._

'Hey Autobots'

The two bots turned to see Barricade standing with his arms crossed, a look of disgust was on his face.

'The communicators are acting up so we've been told to spread the word to get to the bridge in 20 minutes, Slipstream wants to make a speech'

Catilla gave Jetfire a cold look before transforming to sabre tooth mode and sprinting down the hall.

'Pfft seriously, that's what he turns into?' Barricade shook his head and drove down the hallway in car mode.

_20 minutes until the speech_

* * *

_Velocitron_

The Autobots sat within the back of the truck, it was dark and stuffy, and only a few cracks of light shone through the roof.

Wheeljack raised his hand 'Who else thinks we made a mistake entering this truck? I mean, these guys could be Decepticons for all we know.'

'Relax Wheeljack' replied Jazz 'They aren't going to kill us'

'Yeah how do you know?' asked Cliffjumper

'Just trust me on this one Cliff'

'You know if they wanted to kill us they could just drive us off a cliff or something' said Bluestreak

Red alert yelped in shock

'Oh damn, sorry Red I didn't mean to upset you'

Wheeljack rolled his optics 'In case you forgot Bluestreak, we all just survived a drop from space I think it takes more than a drop from a cliff to kill us.'

The truck screeched to a halt.

'Be ready for anything guys' announced Hound

The doors flew open and the Cybertronian's that met with Jazz earlier stood in front of them, now with wide smiles.

'Welcome one and all to the one and only _Speed Planet!'_

Behind them was a city resembling Iacon before the war. The city was bright and populated with Cybertronians of all shapes and sizes. Massive skyscrapers pierced the blue sky while long interconnected highways curved around the buildings. Only two words came to Hotshot's mind as he admired the city.

_Freaking awesome._

* * *

_The Nemesis_

Thundercracker gripped the small cylindrical container in his hand; it was an odd request from Slipstream. An odd order from an odd commander, he was willing to accept that much. What he found harder to accept was how little he really knew about her. Slipstream had kept herself contained for a while now, but ordering him to grab an unknown container of serum from Flatline's lab seemed a little farfetched. Slipstream had claimed to be perfectly fine but Thundercracker and the others had noticed only too often how she would go through phases of pain. The screaming in her sleep had only made it too obvious that whatever was wrong with her, she was trying to control.

Thundercracker felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a familiar face.

'Dirge? What are you doing here?' He said while hiding the container behind his back

'I wanted to apologize, for punching you in the face before.'

'Dirge you don't have to apologize, I completely understand-'

'No please, this is peace time, and we shouldn't be fighting. I was angry over something downright silly and I wanted to make up for it.'

'It is no problem Dirge, an apology is all that is needed'

Dirge rubbed his hands together.

'In that case is it okay if I ask you for a favor?'

He gave a skeptical look before answering 'Depends what the favor is'

'What makes you Slipstreams favourite? I mean what makes her favour you above others?'

Thundercracker made a sound that was between a laugh and a question. He cleared his throat to speak.

'I'm sorry is that what people are calling me?'

'Well yeah, but that's not the point, just… just answer the question.'

Thundercracker put a hand on the cone head's shoulder.

'I am not sure the answer to that either, friend.'

Dirge stared at his feet. 'Oh okay.'

'But in all honesty this conversation is way too awkward for me. C'mon let's haul acids to the bridge, Slipstreams speech will start any minute now.'

_5 minutes_ _until the speech._

* * *

_Cybertron: Shockwave's lab._

'Is this all of them?' asked Swoop

'Oh most definitely, these are all the experiment pods that I know of'

Swoop ran his hand across the pods that lined walls and felt a wave of nostalgia come over him. He was here once, he knew it but he still couldn't fully remember. Did his mind block it out during Shockwave's tests?

'Open up all of the pods'

'Okay' Kickback pulled a lever on a nearby wall and the pods opened up, an eerie red steam rolled out along with several limp figures. Most of the beings that fell out were heavily mutilated; one had 7 arms protruding from their chest, another had rust, leaking from their eyes, another was stuck between forms. Two beings were intact besides being covered in a sticky red liquid. What shocked Swoop the most was that they were the only ones that were still alive; one got to their feet and looked around the room. He looked childlike, blinking at every movement and noise within the room, the other made a moaning sound and tried to crawl back into the pod.

Swoop scanned the room a second time. 'Where is Slug?'

Kickback tapped his faceplate in thought,

'Hmm oh I know!'

He skipped to the back of the room and opened a door.

'He should be right through here!'

A smile crept onto swoops face 'Brilliant'

He followed Kickback, through the door.

'Now let me just get the lights'

Kickback flipped a light and a blue ray of light shone from the ceiling into the sealed pit below.

'Oh my… Slug'

A glass window covered the pit below, keeping all sound out. Within was Slug, he was in triceratops mode, and he was angry. The metal triceratops was thrashing around the pit, black foam was leaking out of his mouth and several headless and limbless corpses, both Autobot and decepticon were littered around the pen.

'Remove the glass'

'Really?'

'**I said remove the glass!'**

Kickback shrugged and pulled a lever, the minute the glass was removed, Slug's screaming was heard.

'**SLUUUUUUUUG! SLUUUUUUUUG! SLUUUUUUUG!**' The tricerabot screamed over and over again

Swoop grabbed Kickback by the throat and lifted him over the pit.

'What in Primus name did Shockwave do to him?!'

Kickback wriggled but didn't speak

'Answer me or you get dropped in with him. **Are you listening to me!**'

'Yes!' spoke Kickback 'I talk, I talk'

Kickback swallowed and squeezed onto Swoop's arm

'Shockwave wanted him to be loyal, to behave, but he couldn't find a way other than force'

Swoop looked back into the pit to see Slug chewing on a nearby corpse.

'Go on…'

'Well he decided to lower his intelligence to that of the creature he was based on, next step would be to turn him into mindless drone, but he gave up, decided to leave Cybertron with Triple changer'

Swoop put Kickback back onto the ground and covered his face.

'So he's stuck like this?'

'No' the Insecticon replied while massaging his throat 'Shockwave and Hardshell know how to fix'

Kickback walked back to the door 'You help me rescue Hardshell and we can both be happy'

'No, Shockwave should be easier to contact, we find a ship, fly it to Shockwave's shuttle, and get him to fix Slug.'

'No, we get Insecticons, you don't have a choice'

Swoop looked at him with disgust 'And why do you say that?'

The two test subjects that emerged from the pods appeared behind them. Both carried a rifle in hand.

'Because you are outnumbered three Decepticons to one Autobot, see these two are _failed _Blitzwing's, the red one on my left is Flywheels and the Blue one on my right is Battletrap, so what do you say? Help us or die.'

Swoop looked at the trio of Decepticons. He wasn't the brightest of folks but he knew when to make the right choices.

'I'll do it; I'll help you find Hardshell and the others.'

Kickback smiled behind his faceplate 'Of course you will, but there is one thing I want to check on before we leave…'

* * *

_The Nemesis… 2 minutes __**after**__ the speech_

'What is going on?'

'Where the hell is Flatline?! We need him NOW!'

'Is she…?!'

'Dear Primus I think I'm gonna…'

'This isn't happening… it's literally physically impossible-!'

'We need her on the stretcher immediately!'

'What about those… **things!?'**

'Them too.'

'This is a sign- a sign from **Primus**!'


	16. A sign from Primus

"_At the time, the Well of All-spark hadn't been discovered yet and thus the only way to create a transformer was to use another's spark. Budding was a nasty process yet a necessary one, the males had to give up there sparks in order for the females to go through the process, Now I know what you're thinking Dirge, I can tell by the look on your face, but at the time the ancients lacked the ways of creation we had in our lifetime. While you would think the males would rather live than give up there sparks for another, -Primus knows why-, death by giving up their sparks was apparently the number one goal of every Cybertronian to the point where they would come to worship the females. The females would devour the males sparks and then birth a being from their chests. In the end the females would live on and the males would be replaced with more whereas if a female were to die, another female would be born to replace that one."_

"_So what had changed?"_

"_Well by the time the core and the well of allspark were discovered, the budding process became less needed so to speak. After time, the ancients evolved thus making the practise obsolete. While budding was forever lost, females were still forged regularly from the well. Of course because of their... smaller size and strength, most were almost immediately killed during the war."_

-_Thundercracker and Dirge, nearly a month before._

* * *

The flashing lights gleamed off of the golden spires of the city, Cybertronians in groups wearing wide smiles skipped down the street in peace. A group of femmes walked by and giggled while pointing at the look plastered onto Hotshot's face causing the bot to blush and straighten up. Jazz marched over to the guide and held out his hand.

'Thank you for taking us here uhm…'

The guide shook his hand with a frozen smile. 'Our names aren't important, just please enjoy yourself'

Jazz nodded and turned to the others 'Well everyone, it seems that it would be best if we-'

'Go for a drive?' asked Hotshot excitedly

Jazz rubbed his helm to think for a second before speaking

'Bluestreak, how's Red doing?'

'He's still a little sick, maybe a drive would be good for him, after all'

Jazz nodded 'Aight, Cliffjumper, Red alert, we are going to go for a drive, you're coming too Hotshot'

He stepped up close to the bot in question and grinned. 'You and I have got a score to settle'

A wide smile came across Hotshot's face, 'Oh yes! I'm gonna see you at the finish line'

Hotshot was practically leaping in excitement as Jazz addressed the others.

'Heheh, so Wheeljack, will you- Wheeljack?'

The inventor was currently speaking to one of the guides. Jazz realized that there was a dark tone in his voice as he approached him.

'Wheeljack what's going on?'

He pointed at a guard who was holding Pincher.

'They won't let Pincher come with us!'

Jazz raised a brow 'What?'

The guard raised his hand to calm him.

'We have been ordered to take this bot in, I'm sorry but his body structure has been considered suspicious by our superiors.'

Wheeljack pointed a finger at the guard 'Pincher aint done nothing wrong, he's only left his planet about-'

'Trust me sir, this will only take an hour to complete, after that he will be free to go'

Jazz put a hand on Wheeljack's shoulder 'Let them go Jack'

Wheeljack lowered his fists 'Fine'

He looked at Pincher who was obliviously staring at the larger bots

'But I'm going with him y'hear?'

'That is acceptable' said the guide

Wheeljack turned back to Jazz and shrugged

'So I guess I will see you later eh?'

Jazz nodded 'Take as much time as you need man'

He turned back to the others and examined who was left

'Hound, Bluestreak, The two of you will find the world's leader and ask for help.'

Hound nodded 'Understood' the two bots transformed to vehicle modes and rolled out.

Jazz turned to the three other bots and smiled 'Time to get rollin''

* * *

'_Is that who I think it is?'_

'_Yes, I would recognize that visor anywhere'_

'_What do we do?'_

'_We wait for further orders that's what'_

* * *

_Cybertron_

Swoop spent one last moment staring at his old friend; Slug was nothing more than an animal now. He felt fear from the creature in the pen, to think he was the one who accepted his new form. Like Snarl, Slug had also complained about his new beast form regularly. To be conscious of his condition - to be aware that he was a monster, must have been hell for him.

'Don't worry Slug…' He placed a hand on the glass 'I will make things right.'

He turned his back and closed the door behind him, he decided to walk to the launch pad rather than fly. He did not want to look like a monster like Slug was today. Despite burning sensation in the back of his head had screamed at him to transform.

As he reached the pad, he was greeted by the two experiments that he met earlier.

He approached the blue one and greeted him

'It's Flywheels right?'

He shook his head 'Nah I'm Battletrap, he's Flywheels' he said pointing at the con praying in the corner.

'Ah… hold on.' Swoop examined Flywheels' tank treads before looking at Battletrap's wheels.

'Are you guys sure you didn't mix up your names or something? Just because y'know… Flywheels… doesn't have any wheels.'

Battletrap opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself upon the realization

'Ah what do you know Autobot?'

Swoop crossed his arms and glared at him. 'Dinobot, there's a difference'

Flywheels finished his praying and made his way over to the two bots. His back was hunched and his optic twitched every other minute.

'Pleasure to meet you Dinobot.' Flywheels looked over his shoulder and began muttering to himself before looking back at Swoop.

'What's with him?' asked Swoop

'You see when Shockwave was experimenting on triple changer technology; he realized that the best way to go would be to use Decepticons with multiple personality disorders. Flywheels is simply speaking to his alternate personality, they don't exactly get along…'

'And What exactly makes the two of you "Failed Blitzwing's"?'

Battle trap sighed 'That's because we couldn't manage to hold the ability to transform into two different modes, rather we can split ourselves into two different bodies at the same time.'

Swoop paused to think for a moment 'And you, what about your split personality'

'The other me… doesn't come out as much'

'_Get on the ship everyone_~' radioed Kickback joyfully. '_I will be there shortly'_

* * *

_Kickback's lab_

Kickback closed the com and turned to the figure across the room

'I take it you want me to come with you' he asked

'Of course! Do you think a miracle like you could just be left behind?'

'I suppose not, but it truly is my skill that you want correct?'

Kickback smiled 'Follow me'

* * *

_Velocitron Bar_

'Well that could have gone better.'

Bluestreak and Hound were sitting at the counter of a bar, groups of Cybertronians sat at the other tables, drunk and having a good time, it reminded Bluestreak of home.

'How could they just kick us out like that? I mean first they have us wait in line for an hour, then we arrive to hear that the leader won't be available for another –what was it- six months?, we can't wait that long, I mean we just can't'

'Bluestreak…' Hound raised his hand and sipped from his drink 'We did all we could, let's just wait on Jazz and the others and finish our drinks.

Bluestreak shrugged and chugged the Energon. As he did so a voice whispered to him.

'_You want to find the leader?'_

Bluestreak looked around, 'Where are you?'

'_Over here you moron.'_

The two bots looked to the far end of the far end of the counter to see a cloaked figure holding a drink of his own.

'_I can take you to the leader, but you may not like what you see.'_

'And why should we trust you?' asked Hound 'I mean you could just be drunk and judging by your glass-'

'_Shut up. __You don't have to, but I think you may be interested in some… facts that you may want to know about.'_

'Very well, what do we have to do for you?'

The cloaked figure took a sip 'For now we just wait until everyone leaves this bar except for the Bartender and the waiter.'

Hound nodded 'Okay, then that is just what we'll do'

The three sat in silence, looking over to each other every now and then. Finally Bluestreak spoke up.

'Say, do I know you from somewhere?'

The cloaked bot breathed in '_Perhaps. I did fight in the war for Cybertron after all.'_

* * *

_The Highways_

'Wooooohoo! What do ya know Jazz, you **are **faster than they say'

Hotshot and Jazz raced down the highway with Cliffjumper and Red alert in tow.

'Hahah you know me kid, nothing is faster!'

'Geez Jazz, you want to act a little more mature? This drive is for Red alert, remember?'

'I'm actually feeling better already thank you' said Red.

'Wow Red, you actually sound sane for once'

Jazz chuckled '"_Mature", _you're one to talk Cliff.'

'Hey I try. Wait, what's that?'

'What's what?'

'There are some cars approaching us from behind'

'Okay then let them pass'

'Jazz?'

'What?'

'I think they are trying to-'

The two vehicles rammed Cliffjumper and Red alert, sending the two bots flying off the track.

'So you want to race huh?' called Hotshot to the two vehicles 'A race you get!'

Jazz's spark sank 'Oh no'

* * *

_Nemesis_

_1:30 minutes until the speech_

Slipstream grabbed her chest in pain, the burning had gotten even worse, and she needed the medicine immediately. She grabbed Skywarp's shoulder and squeezed causing him to yelp.

'Slipstream? That hurt what's-'

'Where is Thundercracker'

'What? He isn't here yet why?'

'None of your business… Skywarp. Just tell me where he is.'

Skywarp shrugged 'He should be here soon, but you should probably know that the audience is becoming a little restless'

'Fine, we will give Thundercracker one more minute, and then we start'

He nodded

Slipstream scanned the room; everyone was here besides Thundercracker and Dirge.

The Constructicons were In the corner with Dirtboss ordering them about, The Stunticons stood in the center with Motormaster standing tall, Ramjet and Thrust stood side by side, enviously looking at Skywarp who stood on the stage next to Slipstream, The Predacons stood at the front with the Guards not far behind, Catilla and Jetfire stood together near the back among the lower grunts like The Battle squad, Barricade with his race car patrol and Flatline with his medical team. But then there were the Target masters. Misfire, Sluglinger, Triggerhappy, Needlenose, Spinister, Quake… and Cyclonus. Something about Cyclonus made the pain grow for Slipstream. She knew him from somewhere.

'Lord Slipstream'

She turned to see Soundwave, he seemed unnerved.

'Yes, what is it?'

'I have done some research and it appears that the escape pods that were ejected from the Ark… were possibly not destroyed after all, they might have used a hologram that allowed them to escape.'

'You mean'

'There is a chance that the Autobots are still out there'

She took a step closer to him 'Jetfire absolutely cannot know about this'

As she turned around she felt Soundwave's presence remain

'Is there something else?'

'Yes, I have also found the reason why communications have been failing on the Nemesis.'

'And that is?'

'The Nemesis' radio waves are in use.'

'So?'

'The Nemesis' Radio works within the ship to allow communications between the combatants within, however it has been redirected to reach outside the ship and contact someone.'

Soundwave handed her the data pad.

'It appears that we have a spy onboard, someone is broadcasting our position'

'To who?'

'To him' he pointed at the datapad

Slipstream looked at the name and her optics widened.

'Is that even- Soundwave, we need to talk about this after the speech.'

He nodded and bowed 'Yes Lord Slipstream'

Slipstream examined the crowd again _Which one of you is not who they say they are. _She thought

'Slipstream' beckoned Skywarp

He tapped at his wrist to signal the time

She nodded and held in her pain, it will be over soon she thought, Thundercracker would be here soon.

She stood at the edge of the stage and waited until all attention was brought to her.

'My fellow Decepticons, I am aware that I haven't been leading you for long, and that I know that I am no Megatron, but unlike Megatron, or Starscream, or even Shockwave, I am able to say this. We won. We finally found victory, and we did so, not as an army, but as one family of destruction. I look down upon each and every one of you and I am proud. But I don't think we are yet done. We still need to find Megatron, and I believe that there are still things out there that are possible threats to us, We have work to do, and I know that once it is completed, we can finally find peace, and even retake Cybertron when the time comes. I know some of you are tired of the war and I promise that we are nearing a new golden age. But first, I would like to address that- AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!'

Slipstream fell on her knees; the pain had hit its peak. She could feel the burning sensation begin to escalate until finally her mind was a complete blank.

Decepticons stammered around the bridge trying to figure out what was wrong. Just when the screaming stopped, there was a complete silence, Slipstream was still, her optics were glowing white.

Her chest exploded. A purple liquid sprayed across the stage, Decepticons screamed and tripped over each other, Scrapper leapt onto the platform and knelt beside the wounded leader.

'Constructicons, we need to save- Skywarp? What's wrong?'

Skywarp was shaking; he was looking at the liquid that came from her chest.

Scrapper approached him and put a hand on his shoulder 'Skywarp-'

The seeker fell to the ground, fainted by the sight he witnessed.

Scrapper stared at what was among the liquid on the floor

'Dear Primus'

On the floor, writhing in the liquid like a maggot, was a being. It was the size of a baby in scale to Slipstream, and it was living, a Cybertronian. There was a second lying lifelessly under the other.

'What? What Is going on!'

Thundercracker stood in the doorway and witnessed it all. He dropped the capsule and sprinted over to Slipstream's side.

'Where the hell is Flatline?! We need him NOW!'

Flatline drove onto the stage and transformed, his multiple limbs running over Slipstreams body as she curled herself in a ball.

Breakdown covered his mouth in shock,

'Is she…?'

'Oh primus' Ramjet fell to his knees 'I think I'm gonna'

Thundercracker was shaking his head.

'This isn't happening… it's literally physically impossible-!'

'We need her on the stretcher immediately!' shouted Flatline

'What about those… thing?!' screamed Scrapper

'Them too!'

'This is a sign…'

Thundercracker stared at Dirge who was trembling

'What?!' he asked

Dirge fell to his knees.

'This is a sign, a sign from **Primus!'**

* * *

Slipstream came to for a brief moment as she was carried to the med bay on the stretcher. As she realized the situation she knew what was next.

_My plans need to change._

She fell back into stasis.


	17. A Recurring Dream

_Velocitron_

Hotshot raced behind the red and white speedster ahead of him, whoever he was he was fast, Hotshot gave him that, but he knew that he was faster. He raced around the curves in the road like he was born to do it; he felt the adrenaline pumping within him as the roar of his engine grew louder. He set off his nitro boost until he felt the burn in his processor, it managed to get him up next to the car and maintain speed.

'Hey there buddy, I take it you think you're the fastest thing eh? Well just take a look at me!' he said while showing off his car mode for the racer.

The bots voice surprised Hotshot.

'Using a nitro boost? That's cute.' The bot drove in front of Hotshot keeping him from passing.

'Wait a minute, you're a "She" aren't you?' he shouted over the roar of their engines.

'Perhaps, does it really matter? Or are you one of those bots who never speaks to femmes because it makes you feel nervous?'

_Behind them…_

Jazz tried to keep up with them but he couldn't manage it, he would have been able to pass both of them easily had he retained his old racing body, now he had nothing to do but wait until one ran out of gas.

An orange and grey car drove up next to him 'Please call him off! I'm sorry, we didn't mean it.'

'Excuse me?'

'Please we were just racing and-and she was just going a little fast, we don't want any trouble'

'Look man we don't want any trouble either, Hotshot there just wants to race is all'

The orange car gasped 'You mean he isn't chasing her?'

'Of course not, he's really just a kid.'

The orange bot sighed in relief 'Hah well that's a relief, Override is the same way.'

Jazz hit his brakes 'Hold on- did you just say Override?!'

_Ahead of them…_

'What- No! I have femme friend's, or one at lea-'

Before Hotshot could finish his sentence; Override was already half a kilometer ahead of him.

'Wha- Hey!'

Override transformed and leapt in the air. She landed firmly in the middle of the road forcing Hotshot to brake at the last minute.

'What the hell was that for?'

Override bent over and grinned at the Autobot, while she could be easily mistaken for a male, Override still had the shape of a female Cybertronian with Red stripes along her primarily white torso and limbs.

'I won'

'What?'

She pointed at the two pillars on either side of the road

'This marks the finish line; there is another set of them just a few miles down the road'

Hotshot hoisted himself up. 'You people sure do love your races don't cha?'

'Of course, why wouldn't you love racing, that's like saying that you, you… don't love racing, I don't know, you can't even make an example from it.' She said with a laugh

Hotshot laughed 'How about walking? Would saying giving up racing would be the equivalent of giving up walking?'

'Not even close, I would give up walking over racing any day; at least I could just stay in vehicle mode and roll whenever I want.'

Hotshot gave a nervous laugh, unsure of whether she was serious or not.

Override rubbed her chin and grinned 'You aren't half bad though, how would you like to compete in the tournament?'

'Tournament?'

'Yeah, there will be one hosted in less than a week, you in?'

'Are you kidding? Of course I'm in!'

The two bots did a high five and Override projected a holographic screen

'Just sign right here and you're home free'

Hotshot began typing on the hologram, spelling out his name, by the time he typed in the M, he quickly realized he was writing his old name by mistake. He erased it and typed out "Hotshot"'

'Hotshot, NO!'

Jazz raced up to them, the orange and black car approaching him from behind.

'So I will see you at the tournament?' asked Override

'You bet your sweet- I mean yeah of course' said Hotshot shyly

Override looked over Hotshots shoulder 'Backstreet, where've you been?'

The orange and black car transformed revealing a bot with a large orange backpack that was held on his shoulders that covered the back of his head. The front of his car mode made up his feet and he bore a grey helmet with a red face. He reminded Jazz of Catilla somewhat.

'Behind you guys trying to catch up, that's where.' He eyed the red and white bot strictly 'We need to head back home, you have many appointments that are needed to be completed.'

Override rolled her eyes 'Very well, see yah Hotshot.'

She transformed into vehicle mode and drove down the street, Backstreet nodded at Jazz and transformed to vehicle mode as well, trailing close behind her.

Jazz turned to Hotshot and slammed him against the side of the road.

'What the hell did you think you were doing?' Screamed Jazz

Hotshot pushed Jazz off of him and picked himself up.

'What do you mean? I was just trying to-'

Jazz pointed in the direction Override and Backstreet 'That was the leader of this place, you realize that right?'

'Who? the orange guy, Backstreet?'

'No not Backstreet, I'm talking about Override!'

'But Override is just a-'

Jazz turned away 'Anyways that isn't the point, do you realize what you just did when signing that contract?'

'Uh I get to participate in a racing tournament?'

'No, what you just did was-'

Jazz spotted a bot in the corner of his eye, he was standing on a higher ledge with a camera in his hand. He was filming them. Jazz brought Hotshot close and whispered in his audio receptor.

'_We have to go'_

'_What?'_

'_They're watching us, let's grab Red and Cliff and get the hell out of here.'_

* * *

_The Nemesis_

Catilla tapped his fingers on the desk in the corner of the room, he watched The Constructicons work on Slipstream while a group of Decepticons stood around the two sparklings that the commander had budded.

'So...' he said to no one in particular 'That sure was something eh?'

'Blow it out of your exhaust port Catilla' yelled Snarler

Catilla stood up and walked over to the crowd, he pushed Misfire and Octopunch aside to see the two Sparkling's. One of them looked as if it were hit by a flame thrower, saying it was singed would be an understatement. It was black with pieces of green here and there, it had no face, and where it should have been was just the spiked and peeling metal that was seen all over its body. The child might as well have been a lump of charcoal shaped like a Cybertronian sparkling.

'This is incredible' said Dirge 'what are the chances of two of them being born at the same time?'

'100% actually' said Spinister 'I don't know if Thundercracker told you, but when one spark is consumed by the female, it would divide and become two sparks. This would be made so that the ancients would be able to expand their population. It was two for one in a sense- ah what am I even talking about…' He looked over at The Constructicons who seemed to have been having trouble.

'Slipstream is no ancient.'

'How do we even know that?' asked Slugslinger 'do we even know all that much about Slipstream in the first place?'

The room fell silent. The Decepticons eyed each other quizzically, as if they were afraid of what to think, but they couldn't be afraid thought Dirge, they were Decepticons, Decepticons don't get afraid.

Finally Snarler spoke up.

'So, are these things alive or…'

'One is alive' answered Flatline. 'The other one, the black one doesn't have any life signs, it may have been alive earlier but right now… well it's as you said Spinister, Slipstream is no Ancient, the budding process hasn't been used in millennia, her body wasn't meant to create life, not like this.'

Snarler shrugged 'Then why don't we just send the body out the trash chute, it kind of… smells.'

Flatline nodded 'It would probably be best'

Snarler grinned and raised his hand 'All in favor of making Catilla do it?'

The majority of the others raised their hands except for Octopunch and Spinister.

Catilla growled 'Fine'

He stared at the black body before gently picking it up. Touching it made him feel sick to his stomach but he carried on. He held it away from him and hurriedly exited the room to the trash chute.

'So' said Squawkbox 'How is the other one?'

'Alive, albeit different'

'Different?'

'Well just look.'

Flatline ran a finger along the sparkling's limbs 'As you can see her arms are nearly paper-thin, and long. Her arms reach all the way down to her ankles and her fingers have an extra joint. Her legs are also rather thin and have an extra joint as well.'

The decepticons all reacted simultaneously

'That's… a she? Asked Stranglehold'

'Yes, we scanned her and it appears-'

Octopunch hit him on the shoulder. 'That isn't the point Stranglehold' He turned back to Flatline 'It's because she is different from us right? Why Is that?'

'Well while it could just be a mutation caused from the medicine she has been taking to suppress the process.' Flatline turned back to the Constructicons who let Slipstream rest.

'We believe that this may be the next step in Cybertronian evolution.'

* * *

Catilla finally reached the trash chute and thought to himself _What kind of word is Chute. Chute. Chute. Shoot? Hold on, focus Catilla._ Catilla shook his head and placed the body in the chute. He stared at his hands that were now covered in a dark green oily liquid. _Ew. _

Catilla paused for a moment and thought it over before pulling the lever. The chute activated and Catilla watched as the small black and green body was shot into the dark emptiness of space. There was something depressing about ejecting a dead sparkling into space, then again who wouldn't be depressed from it? He watched as it slowly drifted away, then something happened. Something that should never have, first he could have sworn he heard a squeaking sound, when he listened closely it sounded like it was coming from outside the ship. As he placed his audio receptor against the glass he could hear it better. It wasn't squeaking, it sounded more like… _Laughing?'_

He stared at the child and his optics widened.

'Oh my god'

The Sparkling's head had turned to face Catilla. Under the crusted metal and singed pieces, Catilla could have sworn he saw a smile. The same smile that he has seen Slipstream use countless times already and it was shot directly toward him. The Sparkling turned its head back and became lifeless once again.

Even as it was out of sight in the emptiness of space, Catilla still stared out the window; his mouth was gaping open. He took a deep breath and shook his head _I'm just hallucinating_ He promised himself, despite this, he still made his way back to the med bay to get as far away from the chute as possible.

* * *

_The Bar_

Hound, Bluestreak and the cloaked bot all waited impatiently. The last drunk finally left the bar with his arms around two femmes. The minute the door closed, the cloaked bot stood up.

'Swerve, bring us down.'

'Finally' said the red and white bartender with a grin.

Swerve activated a switch under the bar and a doorway opened behind them. An elevator appeared and the waiter and Swerve rushed in.

'After you' said the cloaked bot to Bluestreak and Hound'

The two bots reluctantly entered the elevator with the others.

'What's going on?' asked Hound as the elevator doors closed.

'You're new here, we're here to fill you in' explained the cloaked bot.

'What's that supposed to mean?' asked a skeptical Bluestreak.

Swerve spoke up 'It's because you guys are… are… pioneers. Yeah that's it… no wait that's not it.'

'Be quiet Swerve' said the cloaked bot. 'Basically since you fought on Cybertron, you don't know.'

'What?'

'The government here, they have forced us to go underground, you see they have been controlling this hellhole to kill off people like us.'

Bluestreak blinked in surprise 'What? I thought it was rather peaceful here.' He stared at his feet 'Sort of like home'

The cloaked bot sighed 'Trust me when I say it's a façade, I will go into better detail later, but for now-'

The Elevator doors opened revealing an underground bar where nearly a hundreds of bots sat around speaking to each-other.

'Let's get you acquainted'

* * *

_Nemesis_

'…_and as you know, I have taken command while Slipstream is in stasis, any questions about the events that occurred this morning shall be answered so long as we are able to answer them. However I can assure you that things will be normal by the time we investigate the noises in the lower decks as well as the one that is broadcasting our location to-'_

'I've heard enough of this' said Barricade as turned off his comm. 'Who is Soundwave kidding when he says things will be normal after this, nothing will ever be normal after what happened today, nothing.'

Barricade walked down the hall with Frenzy and Thrust, the three Decepticons were all still shaken by the events that had occurred.

'That isn't all,' added Frenzy 'We still have the bastard who has been broadcasting our co-ordinates to a Monster'

Barricade motioned Frenzy to shut up 'Please, change the topic to something less terrifying, I've been all… twitchy lately, like I have a billion things going on in my head.'

'Is… that so?'

'Yeah, I think it might be because of Jetfire, that damn Autobot has been taking up way to much space, I wish he could just… kill himself or something.'

'Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if he actually does' said Thrust 'I hear he's been crying over his dead friends'

'You haven't heard?' asked Frenzy 'We found out that the Autobots got away after all. They put up a hologram to mask their escape.'

'What?!' Thrust rubbed his forehead 'That's crazy, how long has this been known?'

'Just today'

'Well why aren't we out there? Does Jetfire know?'

'Thrust-'

'His friends are still alive! The Autobots are alive! We need to do something'

'Thrust-'

'We haven't won the war yet! Soundwave has been keeping this from us- when the Autobots, are STILL ALIVE!'

'Thrust…'

'What?!'

'Soundwave was keeping it low so that Jetfire wouldn't learn about it.'

'And?!'

Barricade pointed to the left of him, Thrust followed the direction and saw Jetfire standing in the doorway of his quarters he had a look of shock frozen on his face.

'We are standing in front of our quarters' said Barricade to Thrust.

'Oh… Jetfire, I-I didn't.'

Jetfire waved him away 'No excuse me, I… I need some time alone.'

Jetfire turned around and slammed the door behind him.

Barricade punched Thrust in the face causing the seeker to fall on to his back

'You idiot, he wasn't supposed to know!'

'I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to-'

'Save it' Barricade rubbed his brow 'Just how am I going to explain this to Soundwave… speaking of which what happened to Frenzy'

Down the hall Frenzy was seemingly making a call to someone.

'Frenzy? What are you doing?'

'Huh? Oh nothing, I just got a mental message from Soundwave, it's nothing important'

'Really?'

'Yeah, why would it be?'

* * *

_The underground._

'Bluestreak, Hound, I would like you to meet Windcharger.'

The grey and red bot leaped out of his chair and marched over to the cloaked figure.

'It's been for-freaking-ever man, seriously I've been- wait who're these guys?'

'Hound, Bluestreak' said the cloaked figure pointing at the two of them'

'Oh nice to meet you Hound and … Blue…streak?'

Swerve whispered to the grey and red bot '_I know, he's not even blue, but don't say anything because I think it might offend him'_

Hound scratched the back of his head 'would anyone mind filling us in, for real this time?'

Swerve smiled 'Of course, just take it awa-'

The cloaked bot was nowhere to be seen.

'HoldonIgotthis' said the Waiter in one word. The waiter seemingly disappeared for an instant and reappeared.

'He'stakinganap'

'Oh' said Swerve 'well it is getting late, I better hit the hay too'

Bluestreak grabbed him by the shoulder 'Hold on, you haven't even told us anything yet'

'Believe me, only he can explain it right, me and Blurr here, we aren't talkers… well technically we are, but at the moment we are a little too drunk to make much sense at the moment.'

Windcharger yawned 'yeah I suggest you guys go for a stasis nap as well'

'You little-'

Hound put a hand on Bluestreak's shoulder 'Perhaps it would be best to get some rest, after all we haven't recharged for days, it's about time we do'

Bluestreak sighed and nodded 'You're right, let's go.'

* * *

_Later…_

It was the a recurring dream. The same dream he has had since the day he died.

He was on Cybertron, it was late at night and he had just returned from a night of partying with the femmes. It had become a daily pilgrimage for him; he would drive up to nova point and gaze at the glimmer of the city in the distance. He did not know why he did this, but he felt some satisfaction in doing so.

As he reached the top, he transformed to robot mode and sat by the edge.

'Beautiful isn't it?'

The bot turned around to see a familiar face.

'How long have you been there?'

'Long enough'

'What do you want Prowl? You know I don't like to be disturbed when I'm up here.'

Prowl ignored the last part and took out a data-pad. 'There was another terrorist attack on the Decagon today'

'So?'

'14 guards were killed and 17 injured'

'Again; So?'

Prowl sighed 'And they call me insensitive, look, I've been crunching the numbers…'

'When are you not?'

'… and I have found that things may become rather nasty in the future'

'Damn it Prowl this is just you trying to make me join up with the Autobots again!'

'We need your skills.'

'It isn't my fight; I don't want to work with your stupid government. This is my city and it will not be tainted by your violence.'

'This isn't my choice, look the Decepticons are growing stronger, if my estimations are correct-which they most likely are- the Decepticons will begin targeting the smaller states, Praxus could be next.'

'Quit it with your games Prowl, I'm not falling for it. If you want to make a big deal about it then go ahead, but me, I'm happy just where I am.'

Prowl turned his back on him. 'There is a chance this will turn into a full scale war you know.'

'Yeah, right, and what are you going to do during the off chance the mice become rats?'

Prowl took a moment to think about the question before answering 'I'm planning on leaving, with them.'

'Please don't tell me you're talking about that cult'

'It's not a cult!' he snapped 'They focus on peace in the most logical course of action.'

'By running away from a fight, yeah, I'm sorry Prowl but I just don't see the logic in that at all.'

Prowl transformed to his vehicle mode 'Have it your way' He drove off leaving the bot alone.

'Feh, idiot' the bot stood up and looked at the landscape one last time before driving off again. He drove down the winding slope until he was far from nova point. He wondered, was Prowl right? Would it have been best to join with the Autobot police force and fight the Decepticon terrorist threat? It didn't matter to him. This was all that he had; this was all that he needed, this city, his city. As he could see the entrance to Praxus in the distance he thought to himself, why would the Decepticons ever want to destroy something so beautiful? He noticed something up ahead, or rather some_one_. It was a thin blue bot with something in his hand; it looked like a remote dial with a switch on it. As he got closer he noticed the symbol on the bots chest and he transformed.

The Blue bot flipped the switch, and after a few seconds, nothing, Praxus was safe. The bot would celebrate for the rest of the night.

That's what he wished would happen. But no. it never happened like that.

Praxus was blown to smithereens that day. The bot fell on both of his knees as he watched the large mushroom cloud consume the whole city, the screams of the inhabitants still echoed in his audio receptors. He did not scream, nor did he cry. He just sat there almost statue like. The blue decepticon wandered over and sat next to him, watching the mushroom cloud. He placed a decepticon badge on his lap.

'Beautiful isn't it?' the con patted the bot on the back 'The things we do for the greater good eh?'

The con walked away and disappeared from his life but the bot would always remember his face. Before the bot knew it, he was crushing the Decepticon badge in his hand. That was the day the bot died. The day Bluestreak of Praxus died, and the day Autobot Bluestreak was born.

* * *

'Bluestreak! Bluestreak, are you okay?!'

The bot shoved Hound off of him and got off his slab

'Yeah, yeah what's the problem?'

'You were screaming in your sleep, is everything alright?'

Bluestreak faked a smile 'Relax Hound, it happens every night'

'Bluestr-'

The bot walked out of the room and into the cleaning room down the hall.

He looked in the mirror and stared at himself.

'The dreams never get easier do they Prowl? … I'll find you soon Prowl, I promise… I'll make up for Praxus.'

* * *

_The Nemesis _

Soundwave stood in the hallway with the others; they were going to figure this out one way or the other. Under his lead he would accomplish all problems in his way. The first on the list would be to investigate the noises in the lower decks.

'Are you sure this is it Soundwave?' asked Breakdown 'because I'm not really hearing anything suspicious right now.'

'Is that so? Shame, I can hear it just fine'

Soundwave had handpicked the Stunticons and the Firecons to assist him in case things went bad. Overkill and Ravage also stood by his sides while Laserbeak perched on his shoulder

'So… What are we looking for exactly?' asked Sparkstalker

'Who cares, as long as I get to kill him I'll be perfectly fine' said a trigger happy Flamefeather

'Quiet' ordered Soundwave, he took a second to listen and heard the noise getting closer.

'Ravage, move ahead and intercept.'

The Black Panther bot moved into the murky darkness of the hallway.

'So you guys haven't even checked the whole ship yet?' asked Overkill

'Well we've only just got back on since we were broken out of the Autobots prison.' explained Dragstrip 'Also the minute Trypticon was reformatted into the Nemesis back on Cybertron, we had loaded up and made a beeline for the Ark so we didn't exactly have the time to go for a tour given we were a little busy killing Autobots…'

A whimpering sound could be heard and Ravages body was hurled out from the darkness. The panther bot laid with a hole in his chest and smoke coming from his mouth.

'Ravage!'

'Ah what a shame' said a voice from the darkness.

'No…' muttered Soundwave

'Yes… I Starscream have come back for you my Decepticons.'

Starscream stood triumphantly he smirked as he noticed the looks of horror on the Decepticons that stood before him.

'As you can see, I boarded your spacecraft while you landed on that disgusting organic planet, and now that I am here, I am willing to take my rightful place as your new leader while Megatron is absent from your ship.'

Breakdown looked up at Soundwave.

Soundwave took a deep breath, and exhaled.

'Uh, Soundwave?'

Soundwave stood in silence before looking Starscream square in the eye.

'No. This doesn't happen while I am in command, I will not allow him to tear apart the Decepticon Empire the way he has done so already. Decepticons… kill him.'

'Oh YES!' screamed Flamefeather as he transformed to Beast mode and breathed a wave of purple flame towards the seeker.

'Soundwave' said Breakdown as he readied his rifle 'You have possibly made the greatest order ever… of all time.' He fired sending a beam that tore off Starscream's wing.

The Stunticons opened fire causing Starscream to dance around in order to dodge most of the blasts.

Soundwave watched with is arms crossed. Every other second a shot would clip Starscream, it was only a matter of time before Starscream would take a fatal wound.

Just when a shot his Starscream in the chest, the floor beneath him tore open and a giant metal Tyrannosaurus broke through, the beast bit down on Starscream's legs pulling him down into the depths of the ship. The Decepticons looked at the newly formed hole in the floor with gaping mouths and widened optics.

'That's it.' said Soundwave as he scooped up the weakened Ravage and placing him in his chest compartment.

'Where are you going?' called Breakdown,

But Soundwave didn't answer, he just made his way up the elevator, out into the hallway, passing Jetfire, and entering the Medical bay where Slipstream lay.

'You win, what do we do?'

Slipstream's red optics sprung open. She turned her head and smiled at Soundwave.

* * *

_Velocitron_

'Hound?'

'Pincher?'

'Wheeljack?'

'Blue- ah who are we kidding; we'll never find them at this rate.' said Cliffjumper

The four bots roamed the dark streets of the city to find their missing teammates.

'I agree' said a tired Hotshot 'let's just find somewhere to recharge and look for them again in the morning.'

Jazz nodded 'Yeah you're probably right.' Let's head back to the escape pods, we could probably use them as recharge slabs.'

'Right, but there's just one thing' said Cliffjumper grimly.

'What is it?' asked Jazz

'You are going to tell us everything you are hiding about this place'

Jazz sighed 'I'm not hiding anything Cliff, I just can't talk about it right now.'

'Oh sure, you keep saying there is something screwy with this place but do you give any detail? No!'

'Cliff I.'

'NO! I've had enough of this Jazz, you never told me any of this. I'm your partner you tell me everything, now you're out there racing around with Hotshot and forgetting all about me!'

'Cliff…'

'Shut up. I am sick and tired of all this waiting, you are going to give an answer to what this place is, and I don't care what is restricting you, I don't want any of your hypocritical negativity. I WANT ANSWERS!'

Jazz leaped to the right side of Cliffjumper. A sniper shot tore through Jazz's torso creating a large hole in his abdomen. Jazz screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

* * *

AN: Next time. Things are to be revealed.

Be sure to review, I am always open to suggestions and criticisms about the work.


	18. Thundercracker and the Door

AN: I have been really excited about this chapter, I'm sure people will enjoy it as much as I wrote it. Also in response to the guest review, I said spoilers for the Fall of Cybertron game because of references to Trypticon becoming the Nemesis and Bumblebee's death among other things(of course he probably didn't actually die in game). If it is coming off that it seems that I am saying what is supposed to happen in the next game then I will edit the description.

* * *

_Nemesis_

Jetfire sat on his recharge slab, the compact, purple room felt like it was shrinking with every second with the knowledge that somewhere – somehow, his friends were still alive. He sat hugging the boxes of equipment that held everything his friends once held dear to them – what they still did. His optics darted around the room and rested on the walls. He finally managed to admire the painting of Kaon on the mantle.

The look of it put a sour taste in his mouth but he had to admit the art itself was beautiful, the colours, the contrast, everything about it was amazing, he could understand how the Decepticons saw it as home by its portrayal. He also wondered who might have painted it.

He stood up and made his way out the door, walking past Decepticons who had been bruised by fistfights and brotherly scraps. He felt almost happy for them; the past few days had brought him closer to the Decepticons than he ever had when he was with Starscream or Thundercracker.

He made his way down the stairs and met some awkward glances from Decepticons who spotted the boxes he carried. Jetfire shrugged them off and made his way through the black corridors and into Thundercracker's office. He gently placed the boxes onto the floor neatly beside Thundercracker's data pads and waited with his hands behind his back.

Thundercracker was sorting some equipment, he had already sorted them an hour ago but it gave him something to do while Soundwave was on a monster hunt and Skywarp on cleaning duty. He felt a presence and turned around.

'Oh, hey Jetfire.'

'Thundercracker.'

He turned back to his work 'Anything I can help you with?'

'I just wanted to ask if you had the keys to the shuttle bay.'

Thundercracker stopped and chuckled 'Why would you want them? You weren't planning on escaping the ship were you?'

'Yes actually.'

Thundercracker let out an awkward laugh that was a little too late in response.

'I'm afraid I can't let you do that Jetfire, you are ordered to stay here just like the rest of us.'

Jetfire rested his eyes on the stacks of data pads in the corner and nodded

'I'm sorry'

Thundercracker sighed and picked up a new box to sort with 'It's fine Jetfire, really, you have been under a lot of stress really and well, I guess I was just in a bad mood at the time.'

'That wasn't what I was talking about.'

'What? Then what are you apologizing for?'

'For this.'

Suddenly Thundercracker felt a sharp pain searing through his back and out his front. He staggered and fell on his knees. He stared at his lap to see an Energon blade sticking out of his stomach, Oil and Energon mixed into murky purple viscera and leaked out of the wound, staining his trembling hands and legs.

'Y-you, _Bastard!_'

Jetfire searched Thundercracker until he felt a light jingle near his waist. He picked up the keys and placed them in the empty box that once held the concealed blade. The Autobot darted out of the room with the boxes as fast as he could knowing that he would be followed soon enough. Thundercracker grabbed the wall for support as Groundhog and Rumble barged in having witnessed Jetfire run off, they gasped in shock as they saw the blade sticking through the seeker's back and out his front.

'Thundercracker, What happened?!' asked a panicked Rumble

Thundercracker tried to speak but could only manage to cough up oil.

'It's okay T.C.' said Groundhog 'I'm calling down Scrapper for medical treatment, just hold… what?'

Thundercracker was pulling on the blade from the front.

'Thundercracker, you can't pull it out that way!' screamed Rumble 'If you do that the handle will-'

Thundercracker screamed as he pulled out the blade from the front, the handle tore through his stomach leaving a hole dripping with Energon.

'-come out the front…'

Thundercracker slammed a panel on his desk and an Energon recharger ejected, he attached it to his wrist and pushed Groundhog out of his way. As he exited the room, he managed to spot Jetfire's wing moving around the corner.

He yelled a Decepticon war cry, something only the more bloodthirsty Decepticons like Brawl or Quake would have done. But right now Thundercracker was angry, angrier than he usually was at least. He ignored the pain and transformed to jet mode, boosting towards Jetfire's position. As he barrel rolled around the corner, he put all his energy into his thrusters and tackled the Autobot. Jetfire held onto Thundercracker's wings as he jetted the hallways.

* * *

'Soundwave, hey Soundwave!'

The blue bot turned around to see Demolishor standing not too far behind him.

'Demolishor, I am busy, what do you want'

'I've been meaning to ask you about this, but back when we were stuck in the prison block, and when you were uh… provoking that Autobot-'

'Apologies if I have offended you by implying that I was the one who had killed that Autobot's brother.'

'Oh er… no problem Soundwave, I mean you pretty much helped save us all so, uh I just wanted to clarify that you knew it was me who did it yknow?'

'Who ever said that I thought you did it?'

Demolishor took a step back 'What?'

'I know things Demolishor, I know what happened the night Sideswipe left his post, and I know about the cover story that was set soon after.'

Demolishor stood silent.

'Now then, I must find Dirge, he is needed for something… stupid'

As Soundwave turned to walk away, he froze and raised a hand.

'What is it?' asked Demolishor

'Listen.'

Demolishor listened carefully and could have sworn he heard a jet engine and screaming.

'Is that-'

Thundercracker's wing clipped Demolishor's shoulder as he flew by the two Decepticons with Jetfire riding on top of him.

'Well then…'

Soundwave brushed his shoulder as he made his way down the hall as if nothing has happened.

* * *

'Enough is enough!' Thundercracker let out a sonic boom causing the Plexiglas ahead of him to shatter. Thundercracker managed to fly outside of the ship just as the safety wall came down from where the glass once was.

Embracing the new space to fly, Thundercracker began to do loop-de-loops and barrel rolls until he eventually managed to get Jetfire to let go. The Autobot transformed to jet mode and flew straight at Thundercracker unloading a barrage of laser fire towards the seeker.

From inside the ship, Decepticons lined up against the windows to view the dogfight as it occurred, most cheering on Thundercracker while doing so.

Finally a missile hit Jetfire forcing him to flee back to the Nemesis with Thundercracker close on his tail. Jetfire rammed himself through the Plexiglas and into the Shuttle bay as planned. He transformed to robot mode and inserted the keys into the terminal powering up each shuttle.

'No!'

Thundercracker leapt onto Jetfire's back causing him to topple over the control panels, Jetfire managed to get the better of him and grabbed Thundercracker from behind. The seeker hurled him to the floor and began to strangle the air guardian by the neck. Just as Jetfire's optics began to flicker in response, he aimed a pistol at the seeker's torso and fired. The shot his Thundercracker right in his wound and caused him to fall back in pain, as he gripped his side; he stumbled towards the control panel to shut off all the escape shuttles. But before he knew it, Jetfire was already inside one of them and powering up the ships engines.

Thundercracker gave up, he fell to the ground and lay there while the shuttle took off. He activated his Energon recharger and waited for his damages to heal, as he laid face down on the cold floor of the Nemesis' shuttle bay.

* * *

_Velocitron_

'Jazz! Jazz can you hear me? Jazz?' Hotshot held the lifeless Jazz in his arms and felt a feeling of dread as he realized that the spec ops officer wasn't answering.

'You spawn's of glitches!'

Hotshot looked up to see Cliffjumper firing randomly in all directions. The shots ricocheted off of window panes and lit the ground in the dark.

'Show yourselves!'

They apparently heard his call as a second laser tore through the ground under Cliffjumper's feet.

Cliffjumper picked himself up and kept firing in the direction of the laser.

Hotshot grabbed him by the shoulder.

'Cliffjumper!'

A second laser from another direction tore through Cliffjumper's arm.

'Cliffjumper, please, there are too many, we can't see them in the dark and Jazz needs medical attention.'

'I won't let these Basta-'

'Cliffjumper, Jazz is dying.'

Cliffjumper lowered his weapon and faced the ground

'Damnit.'

Hotshot and Cliffjumper held Jazz around their shoulders as another set of lasers were fired into their direction.

Red Alert pointed to an alley way across the street

'This way!' he shouted

The Autobots dodged the lasers as Red Alert fired at their source, the sound of a head shattering gave Red the knowledge that he had taken down at least one of them, and according to Red Alert's peripheral vision, that still left about 20 other bots surrounding them.

'Go, Go, Go!'

The Autobots hurried themselves into the alleyway and leaned their backs against a metal wall in the far back.

'Is that it?' asked a panting Hotshot. 'Did we lose them?'

'Who cares?' snapped Cliffjumper 'Jazz is… he needs medical attention, we have to get him to safety or...'

Hotshot put a hand on Cliffjumper's shoulder 'We'll get him through this Cliff, trust me.'

Red Alert began to panic 'Guys..?'

'What is-… Oh'

Four glowing red lights loomed above them. Behind the lights were shadowy figures only visible from the stars in the sky.

'What are they?' asked Hotshot as he pointed at the red lights.

'Those are the barrels of their guns that are currently charging up power.' Answered Red Alert

Two of the figures jumped down into the alley with them; blocking their escape

'Oh.'

The figures nodded to each other and cocked their rifles.

Cliffjumper hugged Jazz's body as Hotshot stood in front of them to take the blast. They shut their eyes as they awaited their deaths. They waited a second, then two, as they opened their optics they saw that the figures blocking their path were gone, not dead, just gone. They looked up at the figures above them to find that they were shaking. Their guns began to slowly move away from the Autobots and towards each other as the figures shook more and more. Their guns went off and the lasers tore their entire upper bodies off leaving nothing left above their waists but a metal spine sticking out of the lower bodies.

A third figure dropped down and turned on his headlights revealing it to be a short, red and silver bot with a square head.

'You okay friends?'

The Autobots glared at him until Hotshot managed to speak

'Uh, thanks I guess'

Windcharger smiled and turned his head 'Hey Blurr, I told you it was a good idea to go for a midnight walk.'

A blue robot seemingly appeared out of thin air.

'Surebutyoustilldidn'thavetokillthoseguys,ImeanIjustranthosetwobacktot heembassybutyou-'

'Er that's enough Blurr, now as for you guys…'

He turned back to the Autobots who were huddling against the wall

'Do any of you happen to be friends with Hound or Bluestreak?'

* * *

_Nemesis_

*Bang*

For every five steps he would take, Thundercracker would slam the side of the wall with his fist, it didn't make him feel any better, but it didn't make him feel any worse either.

_I can't believe I let him get away. _He thought to himself

*Bang*

He was a seeker, one of the original seekers, an Autobot flier? He had taken down millions of them, millions!

*Bang*

Perhaps what Skywarp said was right, maybe he really did need to toughen up.

*Bang*

But then again, he had admitted to being cynical when it came to the triggerhappy gun enthusiasts that made up the ground forces over the more agile and swift seekers.

*Clink*

Of course working on some combat training wouldn't be too- wait a second.

He looked back and hit the wall a second time.

*Clink*

That's odd, he thought to himself, was this wall hollow?

He patted at the wall to find why hitting it made a different sound. He smiled as he found the reason. This was a door, a poorly conceived door at that. Its outline was barely visible and its keypad was camouflaged behind the colors of the ship.

Well that's one mystery solved, he thought. But why wasn't he leaving? He felt an ominous aura coming from the door, must have been his imagination he thought. Imagination, Thundercracker chuckled, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to try it out for once. He had never really tried using his imagination before, not like Skywarp would anyways. He imagined what might be behind the door, while the logical part of his mind said that it was just a broom closet, his creative side came up with dozens of possibilities in an instant.

Maybe behind the door is Needlenose's stash of Energon goodies, maybe it's where Ramjet goes to get his cone waxed, maybe Megatron is hiding behind it, or Optimus.

The thought of Optimus Prime leaping out from behind the door for a sneak attack caused him to chuckle. He looked at the door one last time before walking away, it would probably be best not to open it.

Now he knew why Skywarp used his imagination so much, it actually cheered him up over Jetfire's escape. He still wouldn't tell anyone that he would try using imagination though.

As he made his way down the hall, he stopped, leaned back, and gracefully transformed to jet mode and shot himself back towards the door.

Ah hell, he just had to open it and take a peek inside; there was no way the door was naturally hidden when Soundwave created the Nemesis. Someone must be hiding something in there and he had to know what.

He transformed back to robot mode and planted his legs on the ground. He ran up to the door and swung it open.

.

.

Slipstream's dead body fell out.

.

.

* * *

'_**Ah… crap'**_

'_**What? What is it?'**_

'_**Take a look'**_

'_**Yes. Timestream 19961202, what about it?'**_

'_**Something happened that er… wasn't supposed to…?'**_

'_**What do you mean "wasn't supposed to"'**_

'_**Well… I think,- I don't know how- but I think for the first time um… ever, the rule has been broken. According to this universal timeline, the Decepticon Thundercracker was supposed to make his way to the bridge and make conversation with Decepticon Skywarp, however he uh… didn't.'**_

'_**So? It's just a little break from the pattern, happens all the time, it won't make any difference to the time stream's outcome, so why..'**_

'_**He opened the door instead'**_

'…_**What?'**_

'_**The door that "The Key" had kept her stash in'**_

'…_**You're joking right? That-that can't happen this is… we have tell D.E.M about this, this could break the balance of the timestream, what is happening down their right now?'**_

* * *

_Velocitron_

As Windcharger and Blurr rushed the Autobot's into the bar, they all stopped and began to chant.

'_54 72 75 74 68 20 62 65 20 74 6f 6c 64 20 74 68 65 20 63 68 69 6c 64 20 77 61 73 20 62 6f 72 6e… _What the hell just happened?'

* * *

_The Nemesis_

All the Decepticons on board –minus 6 began to chant.

'54 68 65 20 63 68 69 6c 64 20 62 65 63 61 6d 65 20 74 68 65 20 73 77 61 72 6d 2e'

* * *

_Somewhere else _

Ironhide lowered his weapon and began to chant with the thousands of bots that surrounded him.

'41 6e 64 20 74 68 65 20 53 77 61 72 6d 20 62 65 63 61 6d 65 20 74 68 65 20 63 61 75 73 65 2c 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 65 78 74 69 6e 63 74 69 6f 6e 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 68 75 6d 61 6e 20 72 61 63 65 2e'

* * *

_Jetfire's ship_

Jetfire let go of the controls of his stolen spacecraft

'42 75 74 20 69 6e 20 64 65 61 74 68 2c 20 63 61 6d 65 20 74 68 65 20 62 65 61 75 74 69 66 75 6c 20 62 69 72 74 68 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 70 65 72 66 65 63 74 20 73 70 65 63 69 65 73 2e'

* * *

_Somewhere farther away._

The matrix whispered something to Optimus. He couldn't hear what it said though. He was too busy chanting.

'42 65 63 61 75 73 65 20 6f 6e 65 20 74 77 69 6e 20 6d 75 73 74 20 74 61 6b 65 20 61 77 61 79 2c 20 77 68 69 6c 65 20 74 68 65 20 6f 74 68 65 72 20 67 69 76 65 73 20 69 6e 20 77 61 79 73 20 65 71 75 61 6c'

* * *

_Shockwave's ship_

'54 68 75 73 20 61 72 65 20 74 68 65 20 69 64 65 61 6c 73 20 6f 66 20 74 68 6f 73 65 20 77 68 6f 20 77 69 73 68 20 74 6f 20 72 65 77 72 69 74 65 20 64 65 73 74 69 6e 79… Blitzwing?! What was…'

* * *

'_**That… that can't be good'**_

* * *

_The Nemesis_

Thundercracker screamed,

Slipstream's metal skin was peeling and rusted, her optics were staring dully into space while her head was covered by crusted oil. She wasn't here for long, she appeared to be dead for… days, weeks possibly. As terrified as Thundercracker was, Slipstream somehow looked rather peaceful.

He threw Slipstream's corpse back into the locker and slammed the door shut. He leaned on it panting.

'By the vaulted heights of K'th Kinsere' he muttered.

He looked down the hall to see if anyone had seen what happened and took a deep breath.

He sprinted down the corridor; his spark felt like it was burning a hole in his chest. He needed to tell everyone what he found, immediately. As he neared the bridge, he passed by Slugfest and Rollerforce who shot him awkward glances. Why?

As he entered the bridge, he pushed the crowds of decepticons out of the way and got up onto the stage.

'Everyone, everyone can I get your attention!'

Skywarp stepped up 'Thundercracker? Are you… are you crying?'

'Not now Skywarp, I need everyone's attention.'

The Decepticons looked up at him with annoyed glances.

'What do you want Thundercracker?'

'This is really important Tailstrip'

'Then get on with it!' shouted Needlenose

'It's Slipstream, she's…'

'Right behind you'

Thundercracker turned around and his optics widened

'What the in the name of…'

In the doorway stood Dirge and Soundwave, atop of Dirges shoulders was Slipstream, alive and well. She dropped down from Dirges shoulders and landed firmly on her feet.

'I hate to interrupt you Thunders, but I have to make this announcement'

She cleared her throat.

'Now first off I am going to need a volunteer.'

She looked into the crowds of Decepticons

'Come on now. Don't be shy'

A white and grey con stood up and nervously walked up to her.

'What is your name?'

'Tailstrip'

'What do you do?'

'I can shoot cluster bombs.'

'Lovely'

Her arm moved faster than any of the Decepticons could see, before they knew what happened. Slipstreams arm was through Tailstrip's skull, on the other side her hand held his brain module which she proceeded to crush. As she took her hand back out, Tailstrip's body fell to the ground with a thud.

'Now then, everyone please note that I never wanted to kill any of you, but I feel as though some of you need to be reminded of who's in charge and what I am capable of, especially now that I have added a new rule to anyone who wishes to live on this ship. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who mentions the events that happened yesterday, will end up like poor Tailstrip right here,'

She kicked the cons lifeless foot. 'Poor little nobody'

She looked up 'Well? Do I make myself clear?'

The crowd began to murmur forcing Slipstream to snatch away Dirge's gun and firing it at Tailstrip's chest causing the remains of the bot to explode.

'I said: **DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?'**

'YES LORD SLIPSTREAM!'

She sighed and wore her signature smile.

'Excellent. Now then, let's get down to business. I want to make this quick so let me sum it up like this.

No, we have no idea why we all started chanting those numbers, and yes, Starscream is in the basement, and according to Soundwave, a giant metal monster with huge teeth is there as well.

Joy.

Now things have been pretty crappy so far, I will give you that, but we've got our priorities straight at least. First off, Soundwave has tracked down the locations of the Autobots med bay… craft… thing, and the escape pods, and I've already decided that the Constructicons, Stunticons and a few others will go after the pods, and that Razorclaw and his men will go after the med craft. While doing so we will, snuff out Starscream, the monster, kill the traitor on board, find Megatron, and win!'

The Decepticons all stared at her with blank faces

'I know we have a big workload guys, but if we act fast and efficiently, then we will have all of our problems solved in no time.'

She clapped her hands together

'Now then let's-'

Soundwave tapped her on the shoulder.

'Yes? Oh please don't tell me there are more problems, I just went over all of them.'

'It isn't necessarily a problem per say' replied Soundwave 'It's just that we have a ship hovering outside and they're trying to contact us.'

Soundwave held out a communicube that was flashing red.

Slipstream hesitated before picking it up.

'This is Slipstream of the Nemesis, who is this that might be-'

'Slipstream, this is Shockwave, I am outside the Nemesis right now, please put Lord Megatron on, or- Blitzwing! Put that down!- or ask him for permission to board.'

'Lemme put you on hold'

She tapped the top of the cube and turned to the rest of the Decepticons.

'Guys… it turns out Shockwave is outside'

The Decepticons all began to groan simultaneously.

'Sweet, I was just going to put it to a vote, but I guess if you put it that way, lets ditch him. Halftrack, Meltdown, get us the scrap out of here now!'

'Roger'

The Nemesis glowed blue before teleporting out of sight from Shockwave's ship.

Shockwave stared at the place where the Nemesis once was before understanding the situation.

'Ah, it appears that Megatron was not on board, either Soundwave or Thundercracker must have taken control of the Decepticons in his absence.'

'So uh… what now?' asked Blitzwing

'We find Megatron of course'

* * *

Meanwhile as the Nemesis quantum jumped to its new location, Slipstream turned to see Thundercracker's expression and felt a wave of uneasiness overcome her.

'Thundercracker? Are you okay?'

Thundercracker's mouth was wide open, and his optics had been twitching with disbelief. He shook his head and straightened himself out.

'Yes my lord, I'm fine.'

'If you say so…'

As Slipstream turned back to the Decepticons, Thundercracker slipped away.

Thundercracker's processor was pounding, what the hell is going on. That femme in the other room wasn't Slipstream, so who was it? Who was this con that killed Slipstream and took her identity?

Who was this con who had led a major victory against the Autobots, who gave life to a couple of sparklings in the middle of a speech, who should be stuffed in a locker with a bullet in her skull?

* * *

_Under Velocitron_

Arcee's optics flickered awake and she began to scan the room. She was hanging from a wall, her wrists and ankles were chained up and her body was left dangling. As she scanned the room she realized that she was not the only one there, chained up at the left of her were Grotusque and a blue aerialbot, while to the right of her were Wheeljack and Pincher.

'Where am I? What is this?'

'Welcome back online babe' said Grotusque

'What happened, why are we..?'

'Chained to a wall in some underground pit? Not entirely sure but we were brought here while in our pods, well your pod, I was still in my Pod-pod-'

'Would you shut the slag up!' called the blue Aerialbot 'If you don't mind I would like some peace and quiet before I die.'

'Hey I'm just trying to fill my friend here what happened'

'Who cares about the "How's" or the "Whys", we have been captured and we're about to die, end of story.'

'Both of you shut up' said Arcee. She turned to Wheeljack,

'You have any ideas to get out of this place Jack?'

'Do I have any- hell yeah I have some ideas to get out of here, I've been coming up with ways to get out since I came back online.'

'Uh great, so what's the plan?'

'Well- heh you're gonna love this- we-'

The door at the far end of the room opened and a thin blue and red bot walked in carrying a long metal pole in his hand.

'Well, well, what do we have here, two animals and a flier, tsk, tsk, looks like you guys will have to face the smelting pit.'

He turned to face Wheeljack and Arcee.

'As for you two, I'm afraid you have also seen too much, we can wipe your minds and throw you back into society so I wouldn't worry too much about yourselves.'

'Get fragged' spat the blue Aerialbot

'Oh dear, speak all you want flier, it won't make a jot of difference, well, I suppose It _would_ depend how slow and painful your death will be though'

The blue and red bot tapped the end of the pole on the ground causing the upper part to transform into a trident like device.

'Now then I think I will start with the scorpion first'

Wheeljack looked over at Pincher and then back at the trident wielding bot.

'What? No!'

Pincher innocently stared at the trident curiously

'Ah what a quiet little fellow' the wielder raised the trident adjacent to Pincher's head. 'It will be interesting to hear what your screams sound like.'

'No!' Wheeljack yelled, 'Leave Pincher alone, take me instead.'

Arcee whispered into Wheeljack's audio receptor 'You don't have to do this Wheeljack, you know how to escape, Pincher is just extra cargo.'

'I have something called respect for my colleagues Arcee, something a bot killer like you would never understand'

The Bot looked at the two and smiled 'Ah what do we have here, an argument? Shame, friends should always make peace before they die, oh well.'

He plunged the trident into Wheeljack's stomach.

'AAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!'

* * *

_The Underground Bar_

Bluestreak opened his optics and groggily sat up on his recharge slab. He rubbed his forehead and recounted the events of the day before.

'Time to get to work' he said to himself

He rolled off of his slab and onto his feet; the Autobot took a stretch before walking towards the bar where most of the other bots appeared to be.

'Hound? I'm up, I think we should go find the…'

Sitting at a nearby table was Hotshot who sipped on a steaming mug of Energon. He spotted Bluestreak and waved him over.

'…others'

Bluestreak made his way through the crowd and greeted the red and yellow bot with a grin.

'Hotshot, where is everyone? Did they eat toxic waste? Were they eaten by Sharkticons? Were they eaten by toxic waste powered Sharkticons?' he joked

'No, Hound has been trying to set up a connection with the rest of the guys in the med craft, Red Alert is in his room doing whatever Red Alert does, and Cliffjumper is seeing to Jazz, which pretty much leaves just you and me.'

'Ah okay' Bluestreak took a seat. He waved Blurr over from the other side of the room for a drink and paused.

'Wait where did you say Cliffjumper and Jazz were?'

'Cliffjumper's in the med bay seeing to Jazz.'

'Oh'

Blurr arrived and placed a mug of Energon in front of Bluestreak before running over to the next table

'Jazz is hurt?'

Hotshot nodded solemnly and took another sip,

'It's bad, last night we were ambushed in the dark by some guys with these super-weapons. They cut a hole right through Jazz's stomach' He said it while drawing a circle on his stomach with his fingers to emulate the size of the wound. 'What's-his-face is doing what he can to fix him.'

Bluestreak brought the palm of his hand onto his forehead

'Jeez… he'll be okay right? I mean, he always gets better right?'

'Yeah, I'm sure you're right.' said Hotshot quietly.

Hound ran into the room carrying a large monitor, he shoved aside bots that were enjoying their morning cup of Energon and placed the monitor onto the table in front of Hotshot and Bluestreak.

'I have a connection with the others!'

'What?'

Hotshot and Bluestreak stared at the monitor, it was filled with static but a figure could still be seen.

'_This is First Aid, can anybody read me?'_

'Hound here, where are you guys?'

'_Hound? I …_Kcht _some help here, everything has gone to hell since we landed'_

'We have some of our own problems here First Aid, Jazz is in critical condition and we're stuck on a-'

'_Hound, the… connection is failing…. I….we…. s here'_

'First Aid? I'm losing you speak up.'

'…_Dead, need to'_

The connection broke off and the screen became nothing but static.

'Damn it' Hound slammed the table.

'Well it looks like things aren't any worse for us than it seems to be for them.' said Bluestreak

Hound slumped in his seat 'I guess.'

'Hey, you guys!' Windcharger called at them from the corner of the room 'Your friend has been drawing on the walls of my room, you mind getting him out?'

'Shoot' Hound and the others rushed out of the bar and into the hallway, Windcharger walked furiously ahead of them, he threw open the door and pointed to the far end of the room where Red Alert sat burning in several notes into the back wall with a laser.

The notes and names had arrows that collected and sorted them. The black painting of scribbled words, phrases and arrows sprawled across the metal walls of the room like a spider's web with Red alert sitting in the center.

He stood up and turned to the bots in the doorway

'I've finally figured it out.'

'Red? What have you been doing here?' asked Hotshot

'That isn't important, since we landed here, every audio receptor, every one of my sensors had been open and listening, we had been followed from the beginning.'

'Red…'

'Please Hotshot, I know what you all say about me, I have audio receptors that you wouldn't believe' he said while tapping the side of his head.

'But this, I've done the math and I know exactly what has been going on here, this whole time Jazz has been trying to tell us the truth but hadn't been able to because of the fifty bots that have been watching us. You see, this planet, Velocitron, is ruled under an illuminati, a single ruling government hidden from society, this government has been brainwashing the people of this place, either to keep them in check or to distract them by… something. They have been using subliminal messages in their huge monitors to keep everyone in check; you can tell just by the way certain things are enforced, like racing, and how other things aren't, like travelling or _leaving_. I don't know what they are trying to distract people from, but-'

'They are trying to distract us from the war.'

The Autobots turned around to see the cloaked bot in the doorway.

'_Speed Planet, _started out as a simple racing company on Cybertron, those were the day things were pure. Then the war broke out, as a way to preserve profits, the Speed Planet and its followers moved to the moon base, but of course, the moon was taken in the war as well.'

He walked down the hallway, the others followed him.

'The Speed Planet was put on a ship; the ship was called the _Velocitron. _They landed on this planet and set things up; they expanded into a city and created a society. They created quite a gathering at first, but eventually the factions of the war needed recruits, and a simple call to Velocitron gave both sides thousands of them. It was decided then; Velocitron had a new meaning, to escape the war entirely. Refugees from the war began pouring in and in time, Velocitron's subliminal messages took their effect and the bots who once knew only war, now knew nothing but racing instead.'

The bots entered the bar and sat at the round table in the center.

'Eventually some different bots began to pour in, animal transformers and fliers came to take refuge. The leaders saw a problem with this and well… we don't know what they do with them but they are never seen again, we are assuming the worst. One bot stood up to this, one bot saw that this wasn't right and decided to do something about it, he started a movement to counter the government, he called himself the Meister. We are that movement.'

'Hold on' said Hotshot who tried to better comprehend the info dump. 'You mean the leaders like… like Override and Backstreet have been brainwashing the people here?' asked Hotshot

'What? No, Override has no idea about anything that is going on, which reminds me, she will be dying soon'

'What?!'

'The government keeps their fake leaders in charge only for so long, they need to keep interest in the racing industry so the leader will either "mysteriously disappear" or face a horrible "Accident", for example, take a look at the T.V. ' He pointed at the monitor on the wall. The screen report showed a video of a flaming blue vehicle among some wreckage. 'That there is the horrible death of the planets previous leader Blurr.'

'But Blurr's…'

'Right over there, I know, we managed to fake his death and bring him in, him and most of the others are the same case as well, except for Windcharger, he cheated in his races.'

'Hey!'

Hotshot stood up 'So why can't we just go tell Override and bring her in?'

'We can't' answered the cloaked bot.

'Why not?!' asked Hotshot frantically.

'She's too young, Swerve has already looked into it, she was born here, she wouldn't be able to accept the knowledge and would possibly rat us out, and if she would believe us, the mental scarring would be unimaginable.'

'This is bull! If you aren't going to help her then I will!' Hotshot marched out of the bar and into the elevator.

The cloaked bot looked at Hound for reason

'He's still a kid' he said assuredly

'Don't worry' said Bluestreak 'he does that about every week, he'll come round'

'Ah'

The cloaked bot stood up

'Now then, I am aware that four of your friends are currently missing, and if I am correct, two of them are beast-formers. We have reason to believe that they have been captured, we have already located where the Velocitronians are keeping their prisoners and have planned a way to find out what is going on down there and how to get them back. I'd be happy to let any of you come with me, and if you want to come, just raise your hand, but don't get me wrong I won't force you if you don't-'

Hound, Bluestreak and Red Alert all raised their hands, standing in the doorway to the medical bay stood Cliffjumper with one arm raised and the other holding a Scrapmaker.

The cloaked bot smiled 'perfect'

* * *

_Later_

The cloaked bot attached a sniper rifle; this will be a quick and clean mission, just like it always is, but what was this sick feeling he had? He heard the door open and he spun around to see Red Alert standing with his arms crossed.

'Yes? Is there anything I can help you with?'

Red Alert wandered around the room admiring the paintings 'One tends to wonder why someone would hide their face under a hood.'

'I have my reasons' he replied

'These are some beautiful portraits you have here' he remarked 'Did you paint them?'

'I did'

'Hm…'

Red Alert examined the largest painting in the center of the room

'Is this where you are from?' he asked the cloaked bot.

'Yeah, that one's of home'

'Thank you, now I know exactly who you are'

The cloaked bot stared at him cautiously

'What?'

'I had rounded down your identity to four people, three of them Autobots one of them Decepticon'

Red pointed at the painting 'This is a painting of Kaon, the Decepticons home capital, you are a Decepticon.'

The cloaked bot chuckled 'Good job, how did you manage to figure that one out? You didn't go through my trash or anything did you?' he said sarcastically

Red Alert chuckled to himself 'Puh-lease…'

Red turned back to the Decepticon and stood in the doorway.

'…I go through everyone's trash'

* * *

AN: I just realized I've stopped adding quotes at the beginning, I'll probably add them in future chapters.


	19. A Violent Story Part l

**AN: These next two chapters are going to be considered special, why? well when Writing the next chapter of After the Fall I realized that a certain scene was going to be a bit longer than expected. 10387 words longer than expected. So I decided to leave it as a two part chapter and pick up on the next chapter afterwards. This chapter will be a bit different for a number of reasons. While I doubt I will do one "like this" again, I do think it still holds the same value as the previous chapters. Hopefully people will enjoy it for the time being. Also, I decided to post"Character songs" for every two characters to share one, sort of like the mastermind _James Roberts _is doing. I will post them on my Profile in case anyone is interested. Bye for now.**

**-_Spencer B._**

* * *

The four seekers; Thundercracker, Skywarp, Dirge and Ramjet stood around the recharge slab harbouring the sparkling, they stood in dark silence minus the occasional remark from Skywarp.

'…Freaking hypocrite'

Dirge sighed and brought the palm of his hand to his face

'What is it now Skywarp?' he asked in an annoyed tone

'Remember when Slipstream said that if anyone mentioned the sparkling, she would kill them? But here she comes round saying "Hey can you look after my kid for me?" again, hypocrite'

'That wasn't what she said Skywarp but- Thundercracker? You okay?'

The light blue seeker's optics were dilated, his lips quivering, and his arms wrapped around himself. He was still in shock from what he had found behind that door the other day.

Dirge snapped his fingers in front of Thundercracker's face causing him to flinch. He blinked his optics before looking back at Dirge.

'Yes?'

'You were zoning out there for a second, is everything alright?'

Thundercracker nodded his head vigorously before looking to the side.

'Yeah I'm fine, everything's just- fine'

Dirge shrugged and turned back to Skywarp. He was pouting on the recharge slab with his arms crossed, not unlike a child on a swing.

'As I was saying…' Dirge began while holding his hand up in a lecturing '…That wasn't what Slipstream said, she said to watch after _The Sparkling _while she was gone; so Slipstream technically didn't mention _how _the sparkling came to be with us.'

Thundercracker lowered his head until his breath touched the cockpit on his chest

'_Like that imposter thinks she can even get away with calling herself that_' He muttered to himself

'What was that Thundercracker?' Asked Skywarp

'Oh, it's nothing' he said with a fake smile

'Oh' Skywarp shook his head; he looked as if he were going to blow from the look of frustration on his face.

'The Seekers…' he said quietly '…now reduced to babysitting, why send your strongest group to kill Autobots when you can send those filthy animals to do the work.'

'Enough of that,' snapped Dirge; pointed a finger towards the black and purple Seeker strictly.

Skywarp simply rolled his optics and turned away, cursing to himself in low mumbles.

Ramjet rocked back and forth on his heels, observing the sparkling cautiously as her thin body moved ever so slightly while in stasis lock.

'She's getting big now aint she?' said Ramjet

Thundercracker glanced at the sparkling with a bored expression

'Yeah I guess. Flatline has already suggested that she will be full sized in a day or two.'

'A day or- that's incredible!' exclaimed Dirge

Thundercracker rubbed the back of his neck 'I suppose'

'Think we should give her a name?' asked Skywarp

'Huh that's right' Dirge rubbed his chin 'What would be a good name, let's see…'

The door flew open and Thrust leaped in.

'How about..._ Super-mega-awesome-dynamite-platinum-rainbow-super-star-blast-queen?!'_

The four other seekers stared at Thrust with dull expressions.

'Okay, okay I'll be going now' Thrust spun around and slammed the door behind him.

Skywarp stuck his thumb at the door,

'I think I'll be going now too, you coming Ramtruck?'

Ramjet growled 'Oh come on, why do you guys keep calling me that, it was a great strategy!'

'Uh huh' Skywarp scoffed as he slumped off of the slab 'I'm going to go push Thrust down a flight of stairs if anyone is interested.'

Skywarp pulled open the door and casually walked down the hallway as Ramjet reluctantly followed behind him.

Dirge watched Ramjet close the door behind him and turned to Thundercracker

'Much quieter without those two yammering about don't you think?'

Thundercracker made no response, he just kept hugging himself.

The two Decepticons stood in silence, both of them thinking about two similar yet entirely different things at the same time, it wasn't until Dirge heard a tiny groaning sound did he speak.

'You hear that?'

'Hear what?'

'Shh-'

Dirge cupped his hand around his audio receptor and listened closely, it sounded like someone was rolling a word with their tongue; Dirge figured out where it was coming from and jumped.

'What?' Thundercracker put his guard up 'What is it?'

Dirge looked at the slab and scratched his head

'I think it's coming from the sparkling'

'What?'

Thundercracker approached the sparkling and put his audio receptor next to her. There was indeed a soft growling sound coming from the sparkling, not unlike the sound of an old creaking floor.

'It _is_ coming from her' remarked Thundercracker.

'What's wrong with her?'

'I think she's... upset…?'

Dirge scoffed 'Yeah well I would be upset too if I knew I was born from a cannibal who devoured other peoples-'

'Dirge!'

'What? You know it's true, you said it yourself in your little story, "After devouring another's spark the female would produce new life from that spark." Slipstream produced life, what other method would you describe that can produce life the way she did?'

'I don't know Dirge, all I know is that it wasn't budding, we were never made to go under the process, besides, wasn't it you who said it was a sign from Primus?'

The inside of Dirge's mouth began to dry up as he pondered for a response to his question.

'I…I. How about we focus on what to do with the sparkling right now yeah?'

Thundercracker rolled his optics 'Fine don't tell me then.' Thundercracker eyed the Sparkling curiously

'You know, she actually sounds sort of… bored.'

Dirge crossed his arms and glared at him

'Bored? How can you tell?'

'How the hell should I know Dirge,' He wandered around the perimeter of the slab and leaned on the other side.

'At least I am coming up with Ideas.'

'Fine, fine you made your point' Dirge ran a finger up and down his cone head and thought. A smile slowly came across his faceplate before snapping his fingers.

'I got it!'

'What?'

'Why don't you tell a story - for the sparkling, I mean.'

Thundercracker stared dully at Dirge

'A story'

'Yeah!'

Thundercracker shrugged 'Fine what sort of story should I tell?'

'A violent one, definitely'

'Okay. Wait would that be suitable for the kid?'

'Who cares!'

Thundercracker sighed 'Very well, let's see, a violent story…'

* * *

'Before the war- way back before the war- there was a prophecy that the world was going to end at a certain date, this worried some, but most of us just ignored it. The few that were worried by this looked into the covenant of Primus for signs and/or directions for them to follow by in order to ensure their survival; the two choices were to leave the planet entirely, or to evolve beyond that and live through it. Since leaving Cybertron was something that was usually frowned upon at the time, they figured they'd find a way to speed up evolution. They managed to do it believe it or not; they had created new forms for themselves that had turned them into these super warriors with organic mesh.

It turned them insane.

The Senate asked them to share their technology but they refused, this angered the senate and forced them to resort to counter with force –not that they weren't looking forward to it. The caste system was altered for war where the strongest, the brightest… the _deadliest_, warriors from all over were thrown into the army sized Autobot "Police Force" to take them down. War broke out, not as big as this one, but a big one, spread out from across Cybertron. The faction against the Senate turned themselves into an army to fight back, they called themselves the Novacons. The Novacons began to go state to state and wipe out anyone who refused to "evolve" with them.'

'Around this time I was torn away from my classes and thrown into the flight corps with the others, it was a long time ago so training is a blur to me, but I remember when our sergeant/instructor named the top ten fliers in the class.'

'The instructor stood tall like he always would, he had a hat that he would wear whenever he would yell at us and take it off whenever he would be supportive, it was an old training tactic they used back then, a good way to get us afraid of a hat, for today however he had his hat taken off.'

"This is it slugs, it's been a long year but it is finally time to select our next group to take the skies from the Novacons. I must say that I am proud to call the ten of you, Autobots, but as for the rest of you, well, you'll all be ready eventually. Now then, I am honoured to announce that the top ten trainees from best to least are…

Slipstream

Starscream

Farcry 'A stout beige bot'

Jetfire

U-turn 'A big bulky green and yellow bot'

Airborn 'a whit and red flier'

Thundercracker 'myself

Skywarp

Cascade 'a red and yellow femme.'

And last but not least, Silverbolt.

The ten of you will be meeting up with me at 2300 hours. Everyone else, dismissed."

You could tell the news hurt the other 50 or so trainees hard, the idea that they weren't ready yet and we were, it really tore through the group. The ten of us however, we all knew that the nine of us would make it, hell we all hung out together the years leading up to it, but- like any 1000 year olds- after the reveal we were in the mess hall celebrating.

"A toast," announced U-Turn "To the ten most aft kicking bots the Autobot army will ever see"

"HELL YEAH!" cheered the rest of the group as they chugged their glasses of Energon.

"Tomorrow night we'll show those Novacon slag lickers where the real fire power comes from!"

"Here, here!"

"We're going to kick their afts so hard that they'll-"

"Oh shut up!" spat Farcry. The short bot gripped the table with large fingers.

"The more I think about killing them slag offs the more… _twitchy_ I get." He took a sip from his drink "Just want to get at them y'know?"

"I agree" said a cheerful Cascade "I say we just chill for a while and wait till tomorrow to act all "Gung ho" for now Yeah?"

"Wimp!" shouted Skywarp jokingly.

Cascade shot him an annoyed expression.

"Well then Skywarp, would you be so kind to tell me how that makes me a wimp exactly?"

Skywarp refilled a new glass.

"Because a loser like you wants 'peace and rainbows' instead of just taking on the problem the real way, the better way"

"You mean like gunning down people at point blank range?"

"Exactly!" he chugged down another glass

Cascade rolled her optics "At least I'm not a closed minded gun-nut like you!"

"Oooh kitty's got claws!" Joked U-turn as he bumped fists with Airdrop

"Real mature guys." said an annoyed Cascade

"She's right" said Jetfire sternly "We need to smarten up for tomorrow."

Jetfire was the oldest in our group, he was like the older brother figure none of us had, I mean he wasn't that much older, while the rest of us were in our 1020s and early 30s, he was 1150. I suppose it matters a lot more given he and Slipstream were the only intelligent ones at that table. The bravado that was shown that day only further proved that.

"Who cares?" Starscream leapt onto the table, spilling his drink in the process. "We're the best there is, do you really think anyone is going to do any better than us?"

"That doesn't mean we can keep our guard down."

"Ah you worry too mu-"Starscream tripped over U-turns glass and fell off the side of the table prompting the rest of us to laugh.

"He's drunk" I said matter of factly.

Jetfire chuckled before taking another sip "But in all seriousness, what do you think about this Thundercracker?"

I stared at him for about a minute before actually saying anything

"Wait you mean me?"

The others laughed

"Yeah, do you think it's all right to sit around drinking or should we be preparing."

I was naïve back then, but to be fair I was only 1027 so I guess you could say you couldn't blame me, but I do wonder some times.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to just relax for a bit, I mean we won't have to fight until tomorrow so it should be fine to worry about it later right?"

Jetfire shrugged "I guess, what about you Slipstream?"

You see back then, Slipstream was… different. She was never the happy go lucky impos- I mean she wasn't the happy go lucky Decepticon she is today, back then she barely spoke. And it wasn't even as a form of shyness like it was for me, for her she showed absolutely no sign of emotion or personality whatsoever, she never got angry, she never laughed, or cried, never even smiled. She was a monster on the battlefield, but when it came to showing any form of emotion well…- anyways Slipstream never gave much of a response, she just did her job and that was it.

She was sitting at the table with a hand around her nearly full glass and the other holding up her head, her optic lids were only half open as if she were about to drift to sleep. She merely shrugged in response to Jetfire's question.

Jetfire tilted his head "That's fine."

"I'd relax Jets" said U-turn as he placed his hands behind his head "Starscream's right, we'll be fine, we always knew that the nine of us would get in the top ten."

"Touche" said Skywarp as he poured Cascade's Energon into his own glass

"Damn it Skywarp!"

"What? You weren't going to drink any of that were you?"

Airdrop looked at me with a smug grin and whispered

"_Three… two…"_

"You defect! I swear one more wrong move and-"

Skywarp flicked her in the nose.

"that's it." Cascade stood up, grabbed the glass and smashed it across Skywarp's face.

Skywarp countered with a fist to Cascade's gut and after a minute, the two of them were wrestling with each other on the floor.

"They're at it again," said Farcry matter-of-factly.

U-turn pointed his thumb at them with a grin

"those two should just kiss and get it over with"

The two wrestling fliers stopped and glared at U-turn

"What?!" they both yelled simultaneously

U-turn leant back and laughed "I'm just kidding, carry on."

Farcry had brought his newly filled glass to his lips then paused.

"I almost forgot" he placed the gently back onto the table. "The nine of us are in, so who was the tenth?"

Jetfire motioned to a table across the room. A lone silver and beige Aerialbot sat there alone under the dim ceiling light.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Silverbolt" answered Jetfire

U-turn slammed his glass down onto the table sending droplets of pink drink into the air.

"Silverbolt?! Out of the 50 other candidates the tenth strongest is Silverbolt?!"

Jetfire shot him an annoyed look. "What are you trying to say U-turn?"

"What do you think Jetfire? Silverbolt can't fly for the life of him, how do you reckon he managed to top Powerglide, or-or Firefall?"

"Who care's U-turn, he's here, they're not, what's done is done"

U-turn chugged the rest of his drink in a gulp "I don't have to like it though."

The speaker turned on with a screech and our sergeant's voice filled our audio receptors.

"This is a reminder to our top ten that briefing will begin in 2 hours"

Jetfire stood up and quickly began to pick up the empty glasses littered around the table

"Sober up guys." He said strictly "We need to look battle ready or else the chief will throw a fit."

Farcry separated Skywarp and Cascade while Air drop and I picked up the drunken Starscream who was barely squinting.

"You gonna be okay for the briefing?" I asked

He shook his head "Turn the lights off man I can't smell the music"

Farcry let out a hearty laugh "Yeah, he'll be fine."

The Speaker turned back on,

"_Actually can Silverbolt come to the briefing room right now? Thanks."_

I craned my head from Starscream to Silverbolt to see the scrawny Aerialbot stand up and push his chair back in without a sound. I looked away immediately as he got close and distracted myself with helping up Starscream.

I stood in the doorway while the others went on ahead; anyone who was in my position would have thought no one else was in the room behind me, but my experiences with Slipstream said otherwise, she was like a spectre, making little to no sound as she walked; only sound she made was the occasional few sentences and the sonic boom from her jet engines when she flew. She was still standing at the table we sat at only she was staring at a light hanging from the ceiling. She was zoning out again, something she would do regularly, Skywarp and I used to joke that her mind was in another world when she did so.

"You coming?" I called from across the hall.

Slipstream blinked and looked back at me with ruby red optics. She nodded sleepily and followed me out the door.

* * *

After our briefing we were to go to stasis lock before morning, I shared a room with Starscream, Skywarp and Farcry so there was a lot of chatter before anyone actually got to sleep, now let me just make this clear, because from the look on your face you don't understand the gravity of the situation.

Starscream. Skywarp. Farcry.

Just take a second to imagine having to suffer Skywarp's pranks, Starscream's rambling about superiority, and Farcrys obsession of guns 24/7 for fifteen long years, now imagine you are hung over and- sorry let me get back on topic.

Anyways the guys actually fell asleep rather quickly, but for some reason I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. I kept repeating to myself that I was going to need the sleep for tomorrow but obviously that didn't work. After enough tossing and turning, I sat up and started naming the different objects in the room. "That's a poster of Sentinel Prime, that's a poster of the model; Elita one, that's Farcry's portrait of his sweetheart back home, that's a lamp. It got boring after a while to say the least. I slumped off my slab and made my way out the door and down the hallway. We weren't necessarily allowed to leave our quarters but… well I was young we do stuff like that when we are young. I walked aimlessly with no proper idea of where I wanted to go, I did it often back then, but this time I actually found some- heard something rather. I heard an odd sound coming from down hall, at first I thought it was laughing and reached for my rifle, but as I followed the trail of the noise, I quickly realized that it wasn't laughing that I was hearing, rather it was crying. I put my audio receptor against a steel door and confirmed that the crying was coming from outside, I gently opened the door and found myself standing outside the training camp. The camp was located on a high cliff edge leaving us with a lot of space to fly around when training.

Sitting only a few feet away from the door, was Silverbolt, hunched over and holding himself like a child.

I carefully approached the Aerialbot and sat myself right next to him.

"Hey, uh, Silverbolt right? Is everything okay?"

He nodded without looking me in the eye.

"You sure? Because if something is up you can just tell me y'know?"

I waited a few seconds for an answer and put a hand on his shoulder. I was never good at being empathetic so I had little to no clue how to handle the situation. It wasn't until I could feel his frame shaking did I have an idea of what might had been the problem. I spotted a data pad next to his waist and touched it.

"Can I see?"

He nodded and I picked up the datapad. On it were several tiny rows of numbers in seemingly random orders.

"These numbers… what do they mean?"

Silverbolt sighed "Access codes" he answered.

"I have a hobby that involves searching up secrets from the senate, those are the codes for certain pieces of weaponry they have in storage. Not entirely sure if any of them are real, but I still find it interesting enough."

"Ah" I pretended to show interest however I somehow doubt Silverbolt bought it.

I lowered my voice and spoke to him as softly as I could "What did the serge tell you when you were called down?" I asked.

Silverbolt opened his mouth to speak, his voice cracked as he muttered the sentence word for word.

"What did you say?"

"He said I will be leading the team tomorrow."

I felt a wave of shock come over me. I couldn't tell what was going through the instructor's head until much later, but I knew that then and there I should have said something to Silverbolt. Instead I said something… stupid.

"You're nervous?"

"Why wouldn't I be Thundercracker?" he was panting profusely at this point he looked like he was going to crack at any minute. I don't belong with you guys, you can't even _compare_ me to Slipstream or… or Jetfire!"

I tried my best to speak in a sympathetic tone- to no avail

"Look you must've been chosen for a reason"

"What reason?" he was looking me in the optic now "What reason would an Aerialbot that's afraid of flying have to be in the top ten fliers?"

I had no response to his question; I was left as speechless as Slipstream was back then. Part of me wanted to stay with him and part of me wanted to leave him alone where he sat.

"I'm going to die tomorrow" Silverbolt spoke with a disturbing amount of confidence in his words,

"Don't say that!" I snapped at him

"Why not? It's the truth isn't it? How do you expect someone like me to go into battle with those monsters? It's insane!"

I rubbed my optics with my index and thumb and thought of a proper thing to say in response.

"Well would you rather die protecting others in battle than die any other way?"

Again, stupid…

"What do you mean?" he was making a sniffling sound, an equivalent of it at least.

"I mean- look, we are all going to war, people will die, if you are going to die out there are you going to sit around and let them shoot at you, or will you do something about it and take them down with you."

I stood up "War is one large battle, and a battle means honour, use that honour to fight, and your life will be worthier than a thousand Sentinel Primes."

I remained standing for a good minute before sitting back down embarrassingly

He stared at me quizzically; I was just about to leave when a smile on Silverbolt's face caught the corner of my optic, it was for about a quarter of a second, I could have missed it if I were to look away there, or if I was to blink, but it was there.

He looked out at the horizon and motioned me to look. I followed his gaze and watched as the sun rose above the clouds. It emitted a warm orange glow over the area as it came into full view.

* * *

Now I could go on about how Silverbolt and I danced for about an hour, or that Slipstream and Cascade had some sisterly love, but I'll just skip to the part where we were all freaking out in the drop ship… and when Skywarp and Cascade were bickering again.

"You can't just dual wield a rocket launcher, and a sniper rifle at the same time Skywarp, the balance and the recoil would just be impossible to maintain"

"Says you! You'll see when I'm sniping off heads and blowing up large groups at the same time, you'll be all like 'Oh Skywarp, you're so awesome and-and cool…!"

As annoying as the bickering was for us in the past, it had become something of –ah- comic relief to cope with the stress. The drop ship was cramped, five of us on one side and five on the other, our instructor/serge stood at the end of the ship surveying us. Our knees were all locked together and touching from the tightness of the drop ship. We could hear screams and gunfire from the outside, and frankly, any one of us was about to breakdown at any second.

"Cascade, Skywarp, shut up" ordered the serge. "We will be at the battlefield in t minus 5 minutes.

"five minutes?" U-turn looked from one side of the ship to the other. "I've been able to hear the battle for over half an hour now."

The sergeant grinned. "It's one hell of a battle. Anyways Silverbolt will take the front with me, you'll be under my command for this mission, and I expect you all to follow me closely."

Jetfire put a hand on the trembling Silverbolt's shoulder and gave him an assuring smile.

The sergeant tipped his hat and turned his focus to me. "Thundercracker, a word."

I got up and made my way to the Serge, trudging through my comrade's legs the same way one would in a movie theater or a play.

I stood up straight in front of him and saluted,

"Yes sir." Expecting him to salute back, I was shocked to see him grab my hand and lower it. He put his arm around me and brought me close to him.

"Listen" he whispered "_I heard about your little talk with Silverbolt"_

"_Oh"_

"And from what else I heard, you two happened to have shared some info with each other."

"_He told me you are putting him at the front"_

"_Correct"_

"_Why?"_

The Sergeant curled his lip "_We need someone to take the shots for the rest of us to head out."_

"_What?"_

"_We both know how this works, the Nova's will open fire the minute those doors open, after they unload their rounds into Silverbolt, the rest of us will fly out and wipe them out"_

"_That's insane."_

"_Please Thundercracker, Silverbolt is at the bottom of the barrel, his loss will only guarantee the survival of the rest of us. We have been doing this strategy in every other battle squadron and you know what? It has been working, we have been growing closer to victory each time, think Thundercracker, one failure dies for nine titans to succeed."'_

'I should have known then and there that was- I should have- I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THEN AND THERE TO LISTE- THEN AND-!'

* * *

_'Thundercracker!'_

The Seeker blinked and he was back, He was standing up with his assault rifle in his right hand, Dirge was staring at him with a look of horror on his face.

'Thundercracker, are you- do you need to stop?'

Thundercracker shook his head and took a seat. He waved his shaking hand in dismissal.

'It's fine I'll continue what I started.'

Thundercracker leaned back and took a deep breath.

'Now where was I… ah yes,

* * *

I remained silent but before I moved to my seat, the commander grabbed me by my shoulder.

"You might as well keep standing; those doors open in less than sixty seconds."

I nodded as the Serge straightened his posture.

"That goes for everyone." He said sternly

Everyone stood up and mirrored the Sergeants posture. Except for Silverbolt who stood ahead of him with his face a foot away from the door.

"Now I want you all to be ready because these doors open in 5…. 4…"

I can say a lot of things about what followed, I can say that I let my anger take over me, I also say that my hand had a mind of my own, but what happened after was something that I didn't understand, or perhaps I did understand it, but my ignorance told me otherwise. I reached out my hand.

"3…"

I reached past the Serge's body

"2…"

I grabbed Silverbolt by his wing.

"1…"

I pulled him back behind the Sergeant just as the doors opened.

We learned then that the sound of death coming from around the drop ship was more muffled than we thought because when the doors opened, the volume of it all was receptor shattering. I remember the look on the Sergeant's face as he saw me holding Silverbolt in my arms and away from the door, it was that last look of shock on his face as dozens of bullet holes formed in his body.


	20. A Violent Story Part ll

**And thus marks the 20th chapter.**

* * *

We used his sacrifice well, as the minute his spark left his body and his stupid hat touched the floor, the ten of us flew out of the drop ship and fired at our targets in jet mode. Problem was, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We thought we were just going to a simple dogfight but where we were was a full-on war. Laser fire was coming from everywhere making it nearly impossible to fly in the area without getting some flak. The war zone was spread for miles, we were above the clouds yet the sky was nearly invisible from the sheer number of planes; the battle looked nothing more than a swarm of cyber-flies buzzing around the embers of a campfire.

Jets and copters of all shapes and sizes blew each other out of the crimson sky while we dodged what we could. I think we all knew from the carnage that no amount of training, no amount of drills or exercises, could _ever _have prepared us for this.

At the time I thought sparing Silverbolt was the moral thing to do, but what we learned soon after was just how much we relied on the Serge in the first place, in the skies we were lost and the master battle strategy that our superiors had planned out had been for nothing without our commander to tell us what to do. We were flying around the whole battlefield firing wildly like the children we were. I was disappointed to see that the mistake I made in sparing Silverbolt took its toll in the first few minutes of battle.

Slipstream, Starscream, Skywarp, Cascade and Farcry tried putting their training to good use while the rest of us dodged as many shots as we could. In the end the only time we would shoot any of them down was when the five of them would use their combined firepower to take out a single Novacon, their upgraded armor had made it impossible to take them out one on one.

Skywarp transformed to robot mode and hovered in the sky. He blew the head off of a Novacon with his sniper rifle and laughed.

"See Cascade! I told you that I could handle both."

Cascade fired a missile on the next target before transforming as well.

"Shut up and fight Skywarp"

Novacons began focusing fire upon our particular group forcing us to take arms in a tighter airspace.

"What's wrong" he replied sarcastically. "Jealous of my amazing skill?"

"No one would be jealous of a waste of space like- Argh!"

A rocket his Cascade causing her to fall.

"Cascade!" Skywarp flew after her only to see the red and yellow flier transform back into Jet mode and ascend.

"Yes? It's just a rocket." She spoke smugly

Skywarp ascended after her while reloading his sniper rifle

"Shut up."

"Fools!" shouted Starscream who was strafe running a horde of them to little avail "These beings are nothing to us, the ten of us can achieve so much with our power, isn't that correct U-turn… U-turn?"

U-turn was hovering in place in his jet mode; it was as if he had fallen asleep in the middle of the battle while the enemy shot at him.

"U-turn" I called "You alright?"

"…"

"What was that?!"

"I… can't… DO THIS!" U-turn, confident, powerful U-turn, lived up to his name and jetted back around to where the drop ship was. Just as I was about to call out his name, the drop ship had gone up in a massive fireball from the Novacon's firepower. Regardless of the flames, U-turn kept moving forward as if the drop ship would reappear at any second. The Novacons spotted the green bot and zeroed in on him and in moments, U-turn was consumed in a fireball about the same size.

"Primus!"

"Thundercracker what is it?" radioed Jetfire.

"It's U-turn, he's down"

"Then go pick him back up" Skywarp radioed back.

"It isn't like that, he- he's dead"

"What?!"

Our radioes all buzzed and a low voice came through

"This is Air Marshall Shockwave calling the team of…"

'Okay so I forgot the Sergeant's real name. It was thousands of years ago. Deal with it.'

"... Your instructor, you are ordered to join up with my squad and I at the earliest convenience, Shockwave out."

"You heard him let's move!" shouted Jetfire.

Jetfire led the way through the swarm of Autobots and Novacons, it took some time but we found Shockwave who only had one other member of his squad with him. He was in hovering in his robot mode and ordering leaderless squad members to take tactical positions. He spotted us and approached us, he skipped exchanging names or greetings and got to the point.

"We have gained Intel that the Novacon leader is heading this way..."

The Novacon leader. Easily the deadliest that had ever existed, he had done the most experiments to his body changing nearly everything about how he once looked. He was no longer a Cybertronian, just a monster guilty of murder, desecration, and cannibalism. We all knew his name, but nobody, and I mean _nobody, _dared mutter it.

"… You will join up with the ground forces and distract him while we finish off the sky corps."

"You sure about that" said Starscream "I doubt you will be able to jack against this swarm with a few measly helicopters."

Shockwave brought a finger to the side of his head "Blades, Whirl, show them what a few measly copters can do."

Two copters jetted from behind Shockwave firing a barrage of missiles and laser fire at the largest group of Novacons they could see. The Novacons spread out in response only to find the missiles home in on them and explode on impact.

"YEEHAW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!" screamed Whirl.

"DAMN RIGHT MAN, HIGH WING!" Whirl and Blades flew next to each other and tapped the side of their alt forms together.

Starscream looked at Shockwave and snarled

"Very well then" said Jetfire. "we'll be on the ground soon enough"

Shockwave nodded "Of course, I am currently sending you the co-ordinates of the leader's location."

Jetfire glanced at the co-ordinates on his wrist and yelped.

"Is something the matter?"

"The co-ordinates..." Jetfire pointed a finger over Shockwave's shoulder "point to only a kilometre away"

Shockwave turned around and lowered his head,

"Oh no…"

The Novacon leader in his massive spaceship mode was moving towards us in the distance.

Shockwave activated his intercom

"Everyone Descend, we need to lead him out of the sky!"

The Leader's weaponry lit up with a neon pink light.

"NOW!"

We all did what he said immediately and transformed.

We were always told that doing a nosedive was the absolute worst thing about flying; they said that it will cause processor damage and may cause you to pass out. In truth, nose diving is overrated, perhaps I would have passed out at the time, if not for the death screams, receptor splitting sound of the blast, and heat burning my tailfins.

I transformed metres above the metal ground below and landed firmly on my feet. The battlefield was charred black with dancing flames as far as the eye could see. Pink light pulsed within the black smoke that blanketed the sky as if I were in a huge pink thunderstorm. I grabbed my rifle and cupped my hands around my mouth.

"Skywarp!"

I wandered around the charred world that was Cybertron and grimaced at the smell of gasoline.

"Farcry!"

I called again and got no answer. I lunged over a large boulder and slid down the edge of a cliff, rolling as I caught my balance.

"Starscream!"

Still no answer, my vision was cut as the smoke from the fires spread over me.

"Anyone?" I began to lose hope and thought of the possibilities, perhaps they had all been caught in the beam, or killed in the crash. Of course that isn't the case given we were just talking to one of them a moment ago.

I took a few steps forward and Slipstream jumped out of the smoke panting.

"Slipstream! Are you okay?"

She had her hands on her knees as she panted, it was a rarity to see her tuckered out like this so I was not too sure how to react at the time.

She looked up at me with a worried face.

"Thundercracker…"

" Where are the others?" I peered over her for a hint of where they might be "Are they alive?"

She stood up straight and looked at me in the optic, I won't forget the look on her face when she spoke to me.

We Cybertronians, we are notorious around the galaxy for crying so rarely. Our friends and family may die terrible, terrible deaths, yet not a single tear will be shed, it's not that we can't, believe me I know we can, but it is because we are so used to it, we have grown numb to the violence that happens around us. It is also why the galaxy has chosen to label us as "Robots" instead of mechanical people, because we are just as unemotional as one in their eyes. But that moment, it looked as if Slipstream were going to cry at any second.

"Thunder… I… you…"

"What?"

Slipstream turned around and sprinted back into the smoke.

"Slipstream, wait!"

I tried following her but it was as if she had vanished completely, it was nearly impossible to navigate within the smoke, and the fear that I may run into a Novacon slowed me down further. To my relief I could hear a familiarly shrieky voice.

"Thundercracker!"

"Starscream?"

I followed the voice and found myself in a clearing with Starscream, Skywarp, Slipstream, Farcry, Cascade, Airdrop, Jetfire and Silverbolt.

"Hey TC" said Skywarp weakly, the side of his body was charred and his right optic was dim.

I nodded to him and made my way to Jetfire.

"Any idea where the ground squadron is?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid we're lost, half of us have shattered our conversion cogs, and we're stuck on the ground with no backup for the time being."

I sighed and turned my attention to Skywarp and Cascade.

"If you didn't shove me out of the way you wouldn't have those wounds!" shouted Cascade

"And you're complaining? I saved your life!"

Cascade crossed her arms "I was going to be fine!"

She noticed me watching and motioned me over.

"What do you think Thundercracker; I was going to be fine right…?"

"Don't listen to her Thunders, she's just being stingy becau-"

I lost it.

"Both of you shut up!"

They both flinched at the same time

"The two of you, I don't even know where to start, you two have done nothing but bicker, and whine, and- god, would you two just accept that you don't hate each other and smarten up?!"

They looked at each other and turned back to me. Skywarp stepped forward.

"look T.C- Thundercracker. I'm really sorr-"

"Thundercracker!"

I turned to where a crouched Jetfire was and jogged over to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Take a look at this" He said pointing at the ground.

On the ground was one of the Novacons we had shot out of the sky it was damaged and had fuel leaking out of it.

"What of it?"

He pointed at the cockpit and sighed.

"These weren't the Novacons; we had been destroying remote controlled drones this whole time.

"You mean…?"

"We've have made absolutely no progress."

We all fell silent as Starscream fell to his knees.

"No… We can't…. just… we can't"

Skywarp put a hand on Starscream's shoulder.

"It's okay Screamer" he said trying to sound comforting "We all get scared"

Silverbolt stepped forward with his hands clasped them around each other.

"Um… what about U-turn?"

Farcry shrugged "What about him?"

"Well, he was your friend right? Do you guys not feel anything for him?"

"Well…" began Jetfire "We never really got along, but I know I'll miss him for his… bravado.

"Yeah it's still sort of hard to accept him being gone y'know?" added Cascade.

"I hate to be the jerk here…" said Airdrop "But we really should focus on the task at hand."

"Agreed" Jetfire tapped at his wrist "We don't have much time until-"

From the smoke, a large black tank Novacon drove into the clearing and began circling us.

"Scrap, everyone stay close…" ordered Jetfire.

The nine of us did as we were told and got in a circle.

"Now open fire!"

We unloaded our weapons into the tank without even leaving a dent, the tank just kept circling us.

"What's it doing?" asked Skywarp

"I think…" Farcry's optic's widened "I think it's sending a beacon!"

"Oh frag, take it out!"

No matter how much firepower we poured onto the tank, it would still act as if nothing happened.

"C'mon slag licker too scared to fight!?" taunted Skywarp.

The tank stopped and pointed its barrel at Skywarp.

"Oh no…"

The tank fired at the ground beneath us sending us all in different directions.

Don't let Skywarp tell you otherwise. I took the main hit from the blast; I was blinded and stuck under a huge pile of debris. I could only hear the sounds of gunfire and growls from the Novacon as he attacked my team until, the sound of an explosion rattled my body. My vision became clearer, I could see a dark figure moving closer to me, I could have sworn I was about to be killed by the Novacon, but here are three facts. One: the Novacon was Black, not Red and Blue, 2: Novacons didn't take prisoners. And 3: I am alive to tell you this story.

The figure standing in front of me leant out his hand. I rubbed my eyes and squinted to get a better look of the figure to see a big and bulky red and blue bot offering me a hand.

"Take my hand soldier." He spoke to me in a low booming voice. "Your team is okay."

I took his hand and he pulled myself out of the rubble.

As I dusted off my legs the large bot took out a repair ray from his belt.

"Hold on while I heal you." The repair ray shot a blue beam from its barrel and my wounds healed.

As my optics regenerated, I could see the bot more clearly now, behind him were the rest of the team.

I counted the heads of my team before looking back to him.

"I take it you're with the ground force?"

"Not quite" said the bot "I _am _the ground force"

"You mean-"

"Yes."

The bot shot himself with the repair ray allowing his own wounds to heal before turning back to me.

"My name's Pax by the way." He turned to the others "Orion Pax…"

From the corner of my optic I could see the remains of the Black tank Novacon.

The tank was lying on the ground in robot mode with its head missing. Its body was still perfectly intact thanks to its nearly impregnable armor.

Skywarp rushed up to me excitedly.

"Did you see that Thundercracker? Pax was all like BOOM and he took out this grenade and was like; 'eat this, _nerd_' and he shoved it down the Novacon's throat and then the Nova con was all like; Oh nooo-BOOOM."

"Ah…"

Cascade looked as if she wanted to make a comment but I take it she was too afraid to do so.

I looked to Pax who was in the middle of healing Air drop.

"Quite extreme for a medic…"

"Quite pathetic for a sky commander" he replied without looking.

I rolled my optics "Very well, so what happened to the rest of the Ground force"

"You know the answer to that."

I shrugged and turned to Slipstream

"Hey, back then, in the smoke, what were you saying to me?"

She tilted her head and shot me a quizzical glance.

"When we were in the smoke, after we landed."

Before she could answer, Orion had grabbed my shoulder.

"We have to move…"

"What?"

He glared at me "NOW!"

I could hear engines roaring, and before we knew it, swarms of tanks just like the one before came over the cliff edge and began firing upon us. The ground tore itself apart as metal debris flew into the air all around us. Pax transformed to his truck mode and we started to run. I looked over my shoulder to see Farcry standing still.

"Farcry move!"

"I'm sorry Thundercracker."

The realization of what was going to come next sent a chill down my spinal strut.

"I'll hold em off, you go with the others."

Without knowing what to say, turned and kept running. The last thing I caught before turning away was the beige figure of Farcry, and the wave of purple viscera that exploded out of him soon after.

I pushed my conversion cog but I wouldn't transform, the tanks were closing in on me.

"HELP!"

I looked down and stopped to find Starscream trapped under a large chunk of burnt metal

"Get me out of here!"

I did what I could and tried to pull my old friend out of the debris.

A shell blew behind me, I didn't feel any pain from it but when I rubbed my neck, metallic skin would shed off.

I tried to yank him out one last time when a hand grabbed my wrist. It was Jetfire.

"We have to go."

"I'm not leaving him"

I went back to tugging on Starscream, trying to remove him from the wreckage.

"Allow me"

Slipstream grabbed me from behind and dragged me away from Starscream. I could hear him screaming at us from behind, but in the end he would be trapped under the debris for the rest of the war.

"Down here!" shouted Orion.

We leaped into a rust swamp and stayed under for a good 3 minutes for the tanks to drive over us. It was nasty but thanks to Orion's repair ray we managed.

As we resurfaced, Air drop began counting heads.

"Where the hell are Farcry and Starscream!"

I shut my optics with guilt

"We had to leave them behind" said Jetfire solemnly. "It was for the best."

"For the- how could you say that?" Air drop turned his attention to Silverbolt

"This is all your fault." He said brandishing a knife. "If you just let yourself be shot, the boss would have led us to victory!"

"Guys…"

"Leave him alone" ordered Jetfire "he had no choice in all this

"Oh really?" Air drop faked a laugh "Well would someone please tell me how the situation is any better, than it would have been if the instructor was stillalive?!_"_

"Guys…?"

"The Instructor's plan probably wouldn't have gone through anyway" I added "The Novacon Leader was there anyways, so we would have been screwed either way."

"You don't think we would be in a better position with the Sarge here rather than with this loser?"

"GUYS!"

We turned our attention to Skywarp, he was kneeling on the ground.

"I-we need help!"

I jogged over to him to find him kneeling over the red and yellow body of Cascade, her chest was split open revealing her spark casing. Her spark had a large gash in it leaking her light blue innermost Energon.

Skywarp looked up at me with pleading eyes.

"Please, Thundercracker you have to help her!"

"I-I don't"

"SOMEBODY!"

Orion jogged over and activated his repair ray

"What are you waiting for?!"

I put a hand on Skywarp's shoulder

"Skywarp… Cascade is…"

Cascade's entire lower body was gone, blown off from the Novacon tank. Tubing and wires protruded from her waist, while her spark slowly began to fade.

"HELP HER!"

Orion managed to heal some of Cascade's wounds but her spark was still slowly hollowing itself out.

He shook his head "I'm sorry, but I can't repair her spark."

Skywarp screamed "You have to do _something!"_

"Sk…"

Skywarp turned back to Cascade and held up her head while draping his other arm around her.

"Cas, I'm sorry, You'll be fine, we'll get you-"

"No… Sk-Sky… I don't"

I turned myself away and shut my optics

"Don't talk, you're leaking-"

"I don't think I'll…"

Orion turned away as well

"I won't… make it so…"

"Don't say that!"

"Skywarp… I-…never thought you were a… waist… of space"

"Don't say _that_, you don't mean that, we'll get through this and you can yell at me all you-"

"You- I'm in… Skywarp I'm …in…"

Cascade's spark darkened, the last bit of life faded away in her optics.

Our race rarely cry's, but there _are _times when there is enough emotional trauma that we become more alive than the rest of the galaxy thinks.

"Skywarp… I'm sorry, she's gone."

Skywarp remained silent; he just sat there, staring at her.

Orion tapped me on the shoulder.

"Strika and Obsidian will be leading a new group to fight the leader, we are to meet up with them and provide cover support. We should leave now."

"I aint going." said Air drop

"What?"

He turned his back on us and started walking

"I'm heading back to get Farcry and Starscream, going to clean up the mess you all made for yourselves."

Jetfire angrily grabbed him by the shoulder

"You're just going to leave us?"

Air drop emitted a low chuckle.

"Yep, and please, don't try to stop me"

Air drop transformed to jet mode and with a roar of his engines, thrusted back into the smoke. The force of his wings created an oval of light through the smoke before covering itself back up.

I turned back to Orion who had replaced his repair ray with an Ion blaster.

"So that just leaves the six of us?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Five" I answered.

He stared at me quizzically

"He needs some time with her" I said motioning to Skywarp.

Orion nodded and transformed. "You all ready?

I observed what remained of my team

Jetfire loaded his cannon confidently while Silverbolt began taking breaths. That left Slipstream who was awaiting orders, her face still a blank. As if the mission was going on as planned all along, as if her best friend hadn't just died a few metres away and as if she didn't have a soul to begin with under that cold glare of hers. I tell you I almost miss that Slipstream in comparison to what we have now.

"We're good to go." replied Jetfire.

Orion revved his engine and started to roll; the four of us transformed and flew next to him nearly inches from the ground. We spent about a half hour listening to nothing but the roar of our engines; By the time we made it to the edge of the gorge where the battle took place, I was seeing red- literally. Everything seemed to be the colour red from my perspective, I don't know if it was because I had high damage levels, maybe my optics were faulty. But overall the filter of my optics was the least of my problems.

Ahead of us was the Novacon leader among dozens of Novacons. The Leader sat himself on a tall pile of scrap metal (or at least what I hoped was just scrap metal) as if it were his throne. He was a large beige mech with green, purple and blue highlights. He had a gold face with sharpened claws, organic-like fangs, and two massive thrusters protruding from his back like two massive wings. It was obvious that he had experimented the most with his body to make himself the most powerful being he could be. He stared at the carnage that was below him. Novacons of all shapes and sizes were tearing apart the Autobot force below us. Any Standard Autobot we saw was immediately off lined; the only ones that stood a chance were the Autobot army's top warriors. Strika and Obsidian, The large red and purple tank: Strika punched holes in the massive Novacon tanks as if they were made out of cardboard while the green and blue helicopter; Obsidian's firepower crippled any Novacon that was in his way.

"They're good" said Silverbolt in awe

"The best actually" said Orion matter-of-factly

Strika leaped in the air and transformed to tank mode, launching a grenade at the leader. The grenade bounced off of the leader's helm and landed at our feet.

"Damn move!"

Orion leaped into the battle below with us in tow. The minute we landed we immediately became a target. We sprinted through the fires and cadavers until we were within a few feet from Strika and Obsidian.

Obsidian spotted us and lunged out his arm.

"Get back!"

As he yelled, the Leader slumped off of his throne, and landed on the ground, his sheer size sent Obsidian flying over our heads and behind us.

Strika immediately tossed the head locked Novacon away from her and opened fire on the leader.

The leader was at least twice the size of us… He made no sound; he just casually picked up Strika with both arms and through her into Obsidian. He then proceeded to stomp the ground until his throne of scrap metal toppled over and buried the two toughest Autobots alive while we stood and watched.

Our Presence had caught his attention as he began to move towards us.

We all stepped back from the leader except for Orion who pulled out a grenade.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted

Without a word, Orion dashed forward and used the leaders legs as stepping stones. He swung himself around the leader's broad neck and unclipped the frag.

The leader gently scratched at Orion but almost immediately lost interest and moved closer towards us.

Orion shoved the grenade in the leaders' mouth and jumped off, landing into the toppled pile of "scrap metal"

"There, that should do it" said the large truck while brushing off some leaked lubricant.

After a minute nothing happened. Then smoke began bellowing from the leader's nostrils.

"Impossible." Muttered Silverbolt

With a growl, the leader craned his head back to Orion and raised his hand. Within an instant, the Novacons that had surrounded us began to step back. The Novacon Leader had apparently wanted us for himself.

Slipstream began to open fire prompting us to do the same.

Our shots seemingly bounced off of him as the goliath managed to pick up Orion by the leg and throw him into the scrap metal like a rag doll. He turned back to us and bared his fangs. This was not a Cybertronian, this was a wild animal.

We continued to step away as the leader moved closer and closer towards us, as much as he made up for in power, he lacked in speed.

"Jetfire!" called Silverbolt.

Jetfire inched himself towards Silverbolt and nodded.

"This better be good, otherwise this isn't the right time."

"I have a plan!"

The Leader stopped for a second to shrug off the laser fire and kept walking.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently

"I'll fly around him to keep him in place, when I do I need you to connect to frequency 418-B and say the code word _Acroplex_. That should give you access to one of the senate's secret weapons."

"How will that-"

"Just trust me; the rail gun on Acroplex should be enough to rip him apart."

Jetfire reloaded his rifle and shot Silverbolt a blank stare.

"You can't do this Silverb-"

"_Watch me!"_

Silverbolt transformed into his Jet mode and thrusted towards the Novacons face, the startled beast began swiping the air in hopes of catching Silverbolt as if he were swatting a fly.

"Cover me!" Jetfire crouched down and adjusted his antenna for a frequency.

Slipstream and I did as we were told and continued firing. Silverbolt's distraction had worked out well as you could tell the Monster was rightfully annoyed. His thrusters activated, torching the ground beneath him.'

* * *

Thundercracker rubbed his optics and sighed.

Dirge waited with his head rested on his arm before speaking

'So then what happened?'

An embarrassed smile came across Thundercacker's face.

'To be honest… Silverbolt had turned the Novacon around and uh… I sort of got torched by his thrusters.'

'Oh'

The two Decepticons stared at each other awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something to break the silence.

Thundercracker cleared his throat.

'Anyways…

* * *

When I came to I had stopped seeing red, it must've been daytime because the first thing I thought when I woke up, was how damn bright it was out, the second was that I was looming over one of the largest holes I had ever seen in my life. The crater was miles wide and covered nearly the entire plateau

I was almost immediately dragged away from the hole by none other than Slipstream. Search and rescue team were scavenging the battlefield for survivors as we were approached by a medic who was holding Orion under his arm.

"You guys okay?"

"We're Fine…" answered Slipstream. She tugged on me to leave but I kept myself rooted in place.

"What happened?"

Orion Shrugged "Not sure, I only just woke up minutes ago, you should ask Jetfire if you want the details of what happened"

"Right."

Orion nodded to the medic who turned him around and waked him to a parked dropship

"Orion wait!"

He turned his head to the side

"Where can I find you?!"

He turned himself around and grinned.

"The Archives."

I chuckled thinking it to be a joke, but later that day when I looked him up on Autopedia it turned out that he truly was a librarian, a grenade slinging buff as hell Librarian.

I was met by Jetfire who explained the situation to me.

As it turned out, Silverbolt's trick worked, after hacking the servers, the senate's weapon, "Acroplex", had fired a laser that tore through the ground beneath The Novacons feet. Jetfire said it was the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed, a bright red laser coming from the sky and absolutely vaporizing the Novacon leader, apparently after he was decimated, the rest of the Novacons lost interest and fleed. I almost wish I had seen it for myself. The last dropship left with Jetfire before we could board it forcing Slipstream and I to limp all the way back to Iacon.'

'And what happened to everyone? What happened to Farcry and-and Cascade.'

'… U-turn, Farcry and Cascade… were all killed because of my decision to spare Silverbolt. We found Airdrop, Skywarp, Starscream, Shockwave, Obsidian and Strika rather quickly but they all kept their wounds in the end. Airdrop changed his name to something else… Something like Sling-raid, or Sky-flight, who knows really, Skywarp came to use bullying as a means to deal with the loss of Cascade, and Starscream. Well. He was put to trial for "Abandoning" his post, poor guy, he was trapped under rubble for hours, he told me that for most of those hours a Novacon had been taunting him, 'said he would never forget the Novacon's face.

Obsidian and Strika remained as soldiers, but in the end Silverbolt was the only one from the group to retain his position. He had become a war hero for distracting the leader, while Starscream, Skywarp and Myself were demoted and put onto the task of defending Dark Energon for the next 1064 years. Jetfire was also demoted for using an illegal network to destroy the Novacons. Without anywhere else to go, Slipstream joined us in our little group until the Decepticon empire was born.

Justice.'

* * *

Dirge stood up and took a deep breath before turning his head back to Thundercracker

'So that's it?'

'Uh yep, The end.'

Dirge clasped his hands together and sighed.

'I-I really don't know what to say.'

'You don't have to say anything Dirge'

'Can I say something?'

Thundercracker turned to the entrance to see Spinister, Skywarp, Ramjet, Thrust, Quake, Slugslinger and many more all huddled up and listening to Thundercracker's story.

'… Go ahead Skywarp'

'You nailed the what happened on the dot, but… you happened to have made Cascade sound a lot meaner than she actually was.'

Thundercracker scratched the back of his head, 'I guess' he watched Spinister fiddle with his thumbs within the doorway.

'You okay Spinister?'

Spinister looked up and shrugged

'It's nothing, I just- Needlenose and I lost some friends in that war, it was messy…'

Thundercracker nodded

'I know the feeling.'

He observed the Decepticons standing in the doorway; they were all staring at him, waiting for him to issue an order, or to continue with another story. Thundercracker began to wonder how long they had been standing there, and whether they were listening to his story from the beginning.

Dirge started to clap, then Skywap, then Spinister, Ramjet, Thrust, Quake… The Decepticons in the doorway all began to cheer and applaud.

A smile crept onto Thundercracker's faceplate as a feeling of embarrassment overcame him.

'You guys… it wasn't _that _great of a story'

'Of course it was!' said a cheerful voice

'Well I don't…' Thundercracker couldn't see who it was speaking, he tried to see over the crowd but the majority of Decepticons in the front were too tall.

'In fact, I would say it was the best story I have ever heard.'

Something bothered Thundercracker about the voice, something about its tone disturbed him.

'Then again, it's the only story I had ever heard so-'

Thundercracker froze.

'By the way is everything alright?'

Thundercracker turned his head until he faced the recharge slab. The Decepticons followed his gaze and stopped clapping.

'Also…'

The Sparkling slumped off of her slab and stretched. She lowered her arms and eyed Thundercracker from head to toe.

'What exactly am I?'


	21. They Always Find Out

Razorclaw leaned at the far end of the shuttle bay showing every sign of impatience, he was venting heavily, tapping his finger against his elbow, and kept checking his chronometer for the time, He kept waiting for Slipstream to arrive. He had heard from Rampage about the fight between Jetfire and Thundercracker, and Jetfire's almost immediate escape following Thundercracker's defeat. The signs of the battle were painted all over the shuttle bay. Leaked oil was spilt on the floor, the walls, and somehow-he wasn't sure how- but the ceiling as well. Dent marks and scrapes were in front of the area where the now stolen drop ship was.

The shuttle bay was large with a long width and an even higher ceiling. Dozens of large shuttles lined the left side of the bay while Snarler and his grunts were lined up on the wall to the right. The former guards of the Razorclaw –Minus Catilla- held rifles for the first time, pretending to shoot each other, ready and gung-ho for a battle. Razorclaw viewed the rifles with disgust; decades of pretending not to like them seemed to have taken its toll as he had actually gained an honest dislike for them.

All attention was drawn to Slipstream the minute she entered the room. Razorclaw straightened his posture as she approached him. He growled at his fellow Predacons to do the same however the only one to do so was Divebomb who Razorclaw thought may have been just stretching. Slipstream's hands were behind her back, her optics darting from one Predacon to the next before resting them on Razorclaw.

'Are you and your team prepared to launch?'

'Yes Lord Slipstream, We just need the co-ordinates and we're set.'

'Excellent'

A bored look came across Slipstream's face, mirroring the expressions of the Predacons glaring at her.

'Is there anything else?'

Razorclaw took a moment to clear his throat before answering

'Yes, we have noticed that you are only sending the Decepticons from _my _planet, why is that?'

Slipstream chuckled and wandered towards the shuttles, she motioned Razorclaw with a nod to follow her as she spoke.

'… You mean besides the fact that the Stunticons and Constructicons have already left and that the Predacons are one of -if not- our most skilled subgroup in our current armada?'

She put a hand on the side of the nearest shuttle and felt the whurr of quantum engines powering up. She spun around and paced back towards the Predacons.

'I believe that co-operation among troops is a priority, so to avoid the problem of leadership, I am leaving you to lead the army _you _have built for now.'

She observed Stranglehold pretending to shoot the others with a backwards gun and smirked.

'Even if your army has been reduced to eighteen soldiers'

Razorclaw thought over what she said and nodded

'Yes, understood'

Slipstream shot him a soft smile and turned to the other cons leaning on the wall; she scanned the eight of them and spotted the one with the red face. He was leaning metres away from the others, a handheld sniper rifle resting right next to him. As she approached him, she worked her brain to remember the soldiers name.

'Hey, Kitty-tilla!'

Catilla raised his head glanced at her with a quizzical expression.

'Excuse me?'

'Oh ah, it's nothing, just wanted to ask why the long face.'

'Oh…' Catilla observed the sniper rifle leaning next to him

'…I'm just worried whether I could manage to kill the very bots that had helped us out way back when.'

Slipstream scoffed 'Oh I wouldn't worry about it; the eighteen of you should be able to manage anything the Autobots of the medical bay throw at you.'

'Oh that wasn't what I…' Catilla stopped himself.

'What? Wasn't what?'

It wasn't what he meant, not one bit, but the possible consequences of speaking his mind held his tongue.

'It's nothing my lord'

Slipstream rested her back against the wall next to Catilla.

The red faced bot's optics darted side to side praying she hadn't figured out what he had meant, he took a breath and looked up at his leader.

Her face was a blank, zero expression, her optics staring into space, the light they developed looked dimmer than usual. It was as if her spirit were somewhere else.

'Um, commander…?'

Slipstream blinked into consciousness and looked down at Catilla before smiling softly.

'Yes..?'

'I uh, just think that we should… hold on, did you say eighteen?'

'What?'

Catilla paused and counted the other Decepticons in the shuttle bay.

Razorclaw, Rampage, Divebomb, Headstrong, Tantrum, Snarler, Carnivac, Octopunch, Stranglehold, Sparkstalker, Flamefeather, Cindersaur and Himself: Catilla.

'You said the eighteen of us should manage anything the Autobots throw at us, there's only thirteen of us going.'

Slipstream paused for a moment before answering

'No, The five Predacons, the three Firecons- oh wait I remember now, you weren't there when we picked them up.'

'Picked _who_ up?'

Slipstream smiled and turned on her comm.

'Bring them in Rumble!'

From above the shuttles, a long treadmill began to activate, on the bottom of the black treads hung 5 chained cages. In each of them were Hun-gurr, Sinnertwin, Cutthroat, Rippersnapper and Blot who was kept in a vacuum sealed bubble like container to hold his corrosion. Each of the Terrorcons were in beast mode, either chewing on the bars of their cages or spewing saliva as they barked.

Catilla lunged for his rifle and pointed a finger at the behemoths.

'The Terrorcons?! you captured the Terrorcons?!'

'Yeah pretty much,'

'How could- you must be_ crazy_ if you expect them to work with us.'

Catilla put his palm over his right eye 'Or maybe I'm crazy for being okay with this'

'Ah' she wiggled her finger in a strict manner

'Don't call me crazy, you see the ones who believe they are perfectly sane are the real crazy ones. On the other hand, the ones who believe there may be something wrong with them are always speaking the truth, therefore they are the real sane ones.'

Catilla stood speechless

'But… I…'

'That is how I know I am sane; it is also how I know you are sane too. Kitty-tilla.'

'Well, what I said about me being crazy to- I mean I didn't really think'

Slipstream put a hand on Catilla's shoulder and leaned over until her lips were inches away from his audio receptor.

'_I've travelled the galaxies far and wide; I've seen the difference between sanity and in-sanity and believe me when I say Razorclaw is borderline insane…_'

'What?'

'…_Which is why I want you to lead this mission from behind the curtain, Razorclaw will listen to anything his followers say, and all you have to do is tell him exactly what to do.'_

'I-I understand'

'Great!'

Slipstream took a step away with a childish grin, 'I will be looking forward to your debrief when the time comes'

'Yes but, what happens if it fails.'

'Well it's a simple solution…'

Slipstream bared her teeth in a wide smile

'…Kill Razorclaw of course.'

* * *

'This is ridiculous, why do you keep kissing up to that glitch.'

'Shut your mouth Tantrum, that's our leader, you know that I am willing to serve the Decepticon cause regardless of who's leader, so long as it results in victory. There is no problem.

Headstrong crossed his arms and blew a stream of steam from his nostrils.

'You mean besides the fact that she's using us like tools?' said Headstrong.

'I have no Idea-'

'Oh please' Tantrum rose to Razorclaw's eye level

'We all know it; you changed after what happened on the beast planet. Where is the valiant hunter we all used to know?'

Razorclaw growled beneath his faceplate 'Are you saying… I've gone soft?'

'What do you think?'

The four other Predacons glared at him as he tried to think of a response.

'Ooh Razorclaw~' sang Slipstream

_Saved by the leader _

Razorclaw marched over to Slipstream –He remained in his straight posture out of habit.

'Yes, my lord'

Slipstream walked the Predacon leader away from Catilla and put an arm around him

'_Two things, first, I have heard rumors that some of your friends have been thinking they can do better'_

'_What do you mean?'_

'_Some of your men believe that you aren't living up to your full potential, that they can do better, especially that Kitt- Catilla kid'_

'_Is… that so?'_

'_I have even heard that they are willing to kill you.'_

Razorclaw lowered his head, he began breathing heavily.

'_Thank you for telling me, I will have a word with them, what was the second thing?'_

'_I want you to know, that the operation Soundwave and Flatline had performed on you earlier had- well actually to put it simply, if something goes awry, I want you to repeat the phrase, "Till all are one" but only when all goes to hell should you say it.'_

'_I understand'_

'_Good'_

Slipstream took a step back and moved her hands to signal them to leave.

'Now shoo, shoo, I have set the co-ordinates so it's about time you all left.'

The Predacons did as they were told and started boarding the shuttle as Slipstream began to wave them goodbye. The minute the shuttle doors closed behind Octopunch, Slipstream turned around and jogged out of the hangers, She was greeted in the hallway by Rumble and Needlenose who looked at her strictly.

'What did you say to them?' asked Rumble

'Nothing much'

'Oh come on we both know you said_ something_.' Said Needlenose bitterly

'I just decided to make the game more interesting.'

'You're treating this as a game?' spat Rumble

She shot the small bot a sharp glance

'Don't go thinking I haven't thought this through Rumble'

Slipstream tried to qualm her habit of smiling needlessly once more.

'It'll all end the way I want it too…'

She watched as the shuttle quantum jumped out of their view.

'…With them never returning here ever again'

* * *

_Velocitron-Before_

The cloaked bot had entered the low key room while closing the door behind him silently. The slab was lit in the center of the room, as if a spotlight were shining on it just to emphasize the importance of the Autobot who lay on it. The bot thought it to be a joke when Swerve told him just who it was the Autobots had befriended. But he just had to be sure, just one peek; just to be sure it was him.

He knew it would have probably been the ethical thing to ask the Autobot's first, he couldn't have them distrust him after all. Not that hadn't already been the case with one of them already- Red Alert, he had figured the cloaked bot out in less than a day of knowing him. He didn't dislike Red Alert, it was just who he was. But Red Alert managed to render his cloak- his way of hiding who he once was, the things he did- as meaningless. And that terrified him.

He ran his hand along Jazz's chest and stopped at the Autobot symbol. He hadn't seen him in decades, only now did the founder of the resistance; the Meister- Jazz return, the coward he was, He had given him a purpose, a reason to fight an order that had shown to be nothing less than villainous. Jazz came to Velocitron and became hero, only to vanish, leaving him, an untrained bot to lead a bunch of nobodies to their deaths. That, was something he would never be able to forgive him for.

He trusted Jazz, more than anyone; he wanted to be like him- a trustworthy hero who was willing to throw himself into the near-fatal blast range of a Railgun for someone. But who was he kidding, the bot couldn't be like him, he was too shameful to show his face under his hooded cloak to anyone, nobody could ever trust him, even without the cloak –_especially _without the cloak. Could the Autobot's really trust him like they would Jazz?

He lowered his hood.

The bot observed Jazz as he lay on the slab, tubes and wires filling his guts, just to keep him online.

He muttered the words.

'We need you back.' Before putting his hood back on and walking out the door.

As he left, Jazz opened his mouth and spoke.

'…Ira…sh…yo…ace'

* * *

_Velocitron-Now_

The cloaked bot brought the speaker to his face.

'Alright, is everyone in position? Good, I'll go over the plan because I know some of you were running late when I first explained it. I'm looking at you Windcharger. Now the objective is to find the captives, rescue them and confront the boss while doing so. We know that the captive's energy signal are in –or under- the Grand Hall, or otherwise known as the King's castle meaning there will be a hell of a lot of guards. Blurr, Windcharger and the rest will serve as a distraction on the castles front yard while Hound, Bluestreak and I sneak in through the back. Cliffjumper and Red Alert are already inside so they will try to persuade the guards to let them see the leader, if not, then they may take necessary force.'

The cloaked bot was lying prone with Hound and Bluestreak on either side of him. They lied on a tall building right next to the Grand Hall. From there he could see through the glass walls and spot guards roaming the glistening halls within doing their own daily routines.

'Now this is the last call if anyone wants out, is everyone ready?'

'Hell yeah!' exclaimed Windcharger.

'Then what're you waiting for, let's get this over and done with.'

Below Windcharger grinned 'Alright boys, let's show these Speed planet slag lickers what we're made of!'

Windcharger charged from the dark alleyways where dozens of Velocitronians from the underground charged out in vehicle forms. The cars son caught the attention of the guards as several bulky blue bots with staffs charged outside to push them back. The Velocitronians and Windcharger began circling each of the guards, doing flips in the air and running amuck. Guards would yell incoherently from the sight of Windcharger punching the side of the gold building hard enough to make a dent.

The cloaked bot watched from above and grinned before turning to Hound.

'You two will stay here; I'll deal with the guards on this floor.'

The cloaked bot shot a grappling hook from his wrist and attached it to the side of the Grand Hall; he leaped off the side of the building and swung himself into the glass, shattering from his momentum. Hound watched as the cloaked bot landed on his feet and sprinted around a corner within the hallway and out of view.

'Hah well that was subtle.' Scoffed Bluestreak 'So much for sneaking in'

Hound gave a soft laugh. 'True he has some quirks about him, but to me he isn't _that _bad of a guy y'know?'

Bluestreak cocked his head and nodded 'Yeah, yeah you're right'

Bluestreak tilted his head up and observed the grand hall; tall and majestic with large spires protruding overhead, the very definition of an attention grabber.

Hound lowered his expression 'Something on your mind Bluestreak?'

Bluestreak blinked and faked a smile. For Hounds sake.

'Nah it's nothing, just wondering why the leaders of this planet are so stupid that they would put their base of operations in such an obvious place'

Hound shrugged 'Perhaps that is what lowers suspicion, who would think, that the glorious capital of their planet would house a prison complex holding those who are "different"'

Bluestreak nodded and looked back at the Hall 'Yeah…'

Hound sighed and scratched the back of his head.

'Bluestreak, is everything… okay?'

Bluestreak quickly turned back to Hound and replied a little too soon.

'Yeah why would you say that?' He stared at the green bot with wide optics.

Surprised by the quick response, Hound took a second to clear his throat before answering.

'You've been- well you haven't been your normal chatty self as of late.'

Bluestreak shook his head and faked a smile 'I'm fine Hound, no need to worry about it.'

'C'mon Bluestreak, last night you woke up screaming, I wouldn't classify that as "fine"'

Bluestreak shrugged.

'Fine, you really want to know what's on my mind?'

Hound rested his head on his hand and nodded.

'I think I've figured out who our cloaked friend is.'

Hound widened his optics in response.

'Really? Who?'

Bluestreak laughed and waved a hand at Hound.

'Just an old friend of mine, see I've been having recurring dreams about him and well… I guess you could say I have his voice stuck in my head, so whenever I hear that guys voice, I think of Prowl for some reason.'

'Ah Prowl, the Autobot with the mental capacity of a thousand regular bots who disappeared days before the war broke out.'

Bluestreak shot Hound a surprised glance before continuing 'Yeah, I think that may be him.'

Hound shrugged and turned himself over so he was resting on his back.

'Yeah I can see that…'

Bluestreak did the same and stared at the sky

'You sound unsure, don't you think he it may be him too? I mean I know you used to work in the Autobot police force with him back then.'

Hound grinned 'Yeah I did, lots of rumors went around after he disappeared, some say he was murdered, some say he became a Decepticon. We were never sure, Nightbeat seemingly gave up after he left Cybertron. What I'm trying to say is… I just don't want you to keep your hopes up in case it turns out to be someone else.'

'You say that as you _want _it to be someone else.'

Hound sighed 'I just wish things could be normal… I mean, a bot who hides his face... perhaps I read too many data logs, but they always turn out to be someone… surprising.'

'Like a twist?'

Hound snapped his fingers 'Yeah like a twist ending, the cloaked bot could turn out to be Megatron, or-or Obsidian and kill us all.'

Bluestreak laughed loudly 'Yeah that would be surprising alright'

'But I don't really wish for that… I hope the guy is actually some nobody who has an ugly face or maybe some sort of mech fungus on his nose.'

Bluestreak grinned and eyed Hound 'I bet cha 40 shanix he is actually Prowl, or at least someone important like him.'

Hound laughed and sat up 'Deal'

A grappling hook hit below them and the cloaked bot pulled himself up. He eyed the two Autobots curiously.

'Come on now, I cleared out the guards on this level, let's get moving now yeah?'

He leaped off of the ledge and back through the shattered window.

Bluestreak shot Hound a childish grin before leaping into the building behind the hooded bot.

* * *

_Below_

Blurr danced around the guards playfully, dodging each stab of their staffs with intense speed, zipping from one side to the other while Windcharger lifted a large purple and blue spiked guard with his magnetic powers and used him as a bowling ball, knocking the other guards over.

'Hah this is too easy!' exclaimed Windcharger

A panting Velocitronian leapt next to Windcharger

'Heh you said it sir, how long do we have to keep this up?'

'For as long as you can kid, don't worry, the most damage they will do is…'

Before he could finish his sentence the Velocitronian's head exploded in flames.

'What the-' Windcharger followed the stream of smoke emitting from the bots head and spotted several armored guards wielding sniper rifles from atop the building.

'…Okay, now _that _might make things more difficult.'

* * *

_The Underground Prison_

'_AAAAAAHHHAAAAAAHHH!' _Screamed Wheeljack

The torturer pulled out the trident and took a step back to admire his work.

Wheeljack's chest had been ravaged and torn apart, his inner mechanisms and tubular visceral mechanical organs now peeking out of his outer shell, it looked as if a small tug would cause the entirety of Wheeljack's inner workings to poor out. A mechanical skeletal rib could be seen dangling in the mess that was once Wheeljack's torso.

'Wheeljack!' screamed Arcee

'Oh shut up!' the torturer slapped Arcee across the face. He was about to shove the trident into her but stopped as he heard a low murmuring sound coming from Wheeljack

'WOW! Now _that's _what I'm talking about, you just won't die will you?'

The torturer twirled the trident with his fingertips

'Most of the Jets and animals we've encountered would've been dead by now, hell your smelly animal friend has already passed out from the sight of you, but you!'

The torturer held Wheeljack's head up so that the engineer's optics would meet his.

'You are alive; it just goes to show how we are the superior ones.'

'Ah you're nothing but a load of scrap!' yelled the blue Aerialbot

'Ah shut up you!'

Wheeljack's head fins emitted a faint blue light that flickered every other second.

A sadistic smile crept upon the torturers lips as he cupped his hand around his ear.

'What's that? What are you trying to say? I can tell you are saying something because your ears are shining'

He brought his face closer only to find that Wheeljack was laughing

'Ah you must've gone mad from the pain! How pleasant.'

Arcee lowered her head 'No…'

'No…' croaked Wheeljack 'It isn't that, it's just… the reason I'm still alive.'

Wheeljack raised his head with ease

'I have blown myself up so many times in the past trying to make the perfect invention… that my body has adapted to pain.'

The torturer took a step back.

'Meaning… all this' Wheeljack motioned to his stomach 'Is nothing more than a tickle.'

The torturer's face lowered from a joyous grin to a teeth gritted frown.

'You can't mean…'

Wheeljack's head fins lit up bright

'That's right buddy, the jokes on you because I DON'T FEEL PAIN!'

The torturer gripped his trident. 'Liar! You were screaming from the pain just now!_'_

'Wha- Oh! You mean the laughing? Yeah I just couldn't get over how pathetic you are that you see yourself superior to bots that are merely _unique.'_

Pincher eyed Wheeljack curiously.

The torturer lunged forward 'you son of a- I will show you the true meaning of pain!'

'Cliché!' yelled the blue Aerialbot

Just as he aimed the trident at Wheeljack's spark, a voice came from outside the chamber.

'… You in there? The boss wants you for something, think you can manage it?'

The torturer stopped and threw the trident aside 'Damn it… what for?'

'Who cares, orders are orders.'

The torturer snarled 'Fine, I'll let you take care of them just this once.'

The chamber doors opened revealing several black armored Velocitronian guards, each holding tridents like the torturer.

'Don't worry, we'll take _good _care of them'

The torturer chuckled before leaving the chamber 'I hope so.'

The group of guards spat and snarled like animals as they eyed the Autobots chained to the wall.

'Now then' announced the apparent leader of the guards. 'Which one of you should die first?'

* * *

_Grand Hall Lobby_

Cliffjumper threw his hands into the air

'Argh when can we get to business already?!'

Red Alert felt unwanted attention from several disturbed civilians sitting on sofas and reading magazines. He gently pulled the angry little bot's arms back to either side of him

'Patience Cliff… we need to wait until the boss gives the word, then we can try and make our way to the leaders of the place.'

Cliffjumper snarled 'Well I for one want to find him, the sooner the better, for what they did to Jazz I'm going to shove my glass gas right up their a-!'

'Cliffjumper!' Red shook his head 'Don't be so loud, they could be listening to us. I know I would. Anyways Swerve already told me -_after quite a few lame puns- _that Jazz will heal, it is just a matter of time. Right now we need to be patient and wait for our orders.'

'Bah' Cliffjumper sat on one of the metallic sofas and pouted 'I doubt I would even _want _to confront the Velocitron leaders all democratic-like, hell I wouldn't even go in their if the Boss _begged _me to-'

Cliffjumper's radio activated '_Cliffjumper, Red, you two can go in now'_

'Great!' exclaimed Cliffjumper 'Well let's go Red, now time to waist.'

Red Alert sighed and followed close behind 'Very well'

The two stopped at the desk at the back of the grand hall's lobby. Next to it was staircase, guarded by two large Velocitronians. Cliffjumper approached the guards and puffed his chest out to compensate for his much smaller size.

'We demand to speak to the boss around here got it?'

The two guards glanced at each other and laughed

'Yeah nice try kid, why don't you run along with your daddy here and find something better to do yes?'

'Dadd- you morons I'm older than Red by 27 yea-'

'What he's trying to say…' interrupted Red Alert, trying to make amends '…Is that we have an appointment with one of your superiors.'

The left guard shook his head 'I've heard that one too bud, now get-'

'Actually what they say is true.'

'What?'

A short blue and red bot stood behind the two guards with warm smile on his faceplate.

'Brakedown is expecting them.'

Cliffjumper elbowed Red in the gut and leaned in close to him

'_How did you do that?' _Whispered the Red bot

'_I have no idea.'_

'Sir Clocker? Is what you say true?' asked one of the guards

Clocker chuckled 'Yes, yes, now please let them through.'

The two guards reluctantly made way for the Autobots.

'Now come with me.' said Clocker softly as he began up the stairs.

Red Alert followed as Cliffjumper shot a snarky grin at the guards

'Later nerds!' he retorted as he quickly followed the others up the flight of stairs.

* * *

_The Velocitronian Circuit_

Hotshot felt a wave of uneasiness overcome him as he rolled onto the track, the audience was massive, the bleachers were as high as a large skyscraper, the cheering was receptor splitting and the whole track was polished until it reflected every other surface. The whole event appeared to be the highlight of both the audience and the racers lives, as if everything they lived for somehow lead to this racing event. It _was _for this racing event, any racing event really, the subliminal messages made it this way.

Hotshot could see the cheerful looks on the audience members faces, all with wide smiles and applause. How was he supposed to convince a planets worth of citizens to learn the truth, this was all they knew.

He slowly rolled up next to Override on the track; they were at the starting point of the race where about 20 other Velocitronians lined up beside them to compete, miles and miles of road stretched out before them as sky spies floated around them trying to catch a glimpse of the racers.

'Ah you're late!' said Override 'You going to actually show what a real racer can do or are you gonna nitro boost your way to last place again?'

Hotshot's throat was sore, he didn't want to tell Override the truth, it would most probably scar her. She was just a kid. Well, _he _was a kid too, but he was more resistant to bad news from how long he had fought in the war.

'I – I have to tell you something Override.'

'What? That your pistons are acting up so you can't participate? And I thought you were made of sterner stuff!'

'No! It's not that, it's just that- I don't know how to tell you this but… the creators of this- all this, are going to kill you so that there will be a different leader next, they think you are growing closer to figuring things out and want to wipe you out before you do. Velocitron isn't what it seems Override, we need to get out of here now.'

There was a moment of silence before Override managed a reaction.

'Wow, and I thought Backstreet was bad at making jokes.'

'This isn't a joke!' snapped Hotshot 'We need to leave, now.'

'Ah I see what this is.' The countdown for the race began and the racers revved their engines 'You're just trying to get me to leave the track so that you can win, nice try buddy.'

The countdown hit its mark and the racers shot themselves from the starting post with extreme speed.

Override took the lead while Hotshot drove close behind, he was surprised to see how well he was doing. Perhaps all those driving exercises with Kup have finally paid off.

'Override!' he called

'Still not listening'

Hotshot reluctantly activated his Nitro boost until he was right next to the Velocitronian champion.

'You have to believe me, this place isn't what you think- the races, aren't what you think. It's all… evil!'

'Hotshot, you're making me really angry right now,'

'Override I-'

'I thought you were better than this, that maybe you-'

'SEE YA SUCKERS!'

A small red motorcycle and a large green and black truck boosted passed the two bots.

Override cried in a fit of rage

'Ransack! Crumplezone! Damn you Hotshot, I am not going to let those idiots win this race!'

Override activated her boosters and shot herself ahead.

* * *

_The Grand Hall_

Clocker lead the two bots down a narrow hallway nodding to other bots holding data pads and suitcases that appeared to be busy with their lives. Clocker stopped by a metallic door and knocked twice. A gruff voice called from behind the door.

'Come in'

Clocker opened the door and walked in confidently.

'Hey Brakedown'

Cliffjumper jumped 'Breakdown?' he pulled out his assault rifle and leaped into the room behind the blue bot.

'Halt Stunticon'

Instead of the short paranoid Stunticon, Cliffjumper found himself staring at a black and gold, ancient looking bot sitting at a desk at the far side of the room.

'I beg your pardon?' said the old bot

'Oh.' Cliffjumper embarrassingly transformed his arm back to normal.

'Sorry, I mistook you for someone else.' He said while staring at the ground

Brakedown smiled warmly 'That is fine, I get that a lot'

'Our apologies' said Red Alert softly 'We were meaning to come here to meet with the leaders of the planet.' He glared at Cliffjumper '_without _unnecessary violence.'

Cliffjumper made a sound with his lips before turning to Clocker.

'So why did you come up here to…' Cliffjumper stopped and stared at the Velocitronians chest.

Clocker blinked and tilted his head to the side 'Is uh… is something the matter?'

'No its just… you have some oil on your chest.'

Clocker looked down at his chest and wiped some of the now crusted oil off. He looked back up and smiled embarrassingly.

'Yes I was just out working at the mechanic shop, it's an old passion of mine.'

Cliffjumper opened his mouth and nodded 'Ah that makes sense, sorry I'm just a little-'

'He gets queasy around spilt oil'

'RED!'

Red alert chuckled 'Sorry, but we both know it's true, anyways.'

Red alert lowered his expression and turned back to Brakedown.

'What exactly is going on here?'

Brakedown lowered his arms to his sides. 'We wish to help you with your mission.'

'But you guys have a high authority around here don't you?' asked Cliffjumper who sat on a metal couch adjacent to Brakedown's desk. 'Aren't you an organizer of this planet's order?'

Brakedown reached into his desk and pulled out a remote, he pointed it at the corner of the room and pressed a button.

'Er what was that?' asked Cliffjumper

'He turned off all the surveillance in the room' said Clocker motioning to the camera 'Now we can talk in peace'

Brakedown reached at his waist and started moving his arms, Brakedown's body moved from out behind the desk.

'Oh…'

Brakedown revealed himself to be sitting in a wheelchair with its colours matching his own. His legs were limp and rusted and looked as if they hadn't been used in centuries.

'I support your faction.' He said calmly 'What is happening on this planet is wrong and whoever is in charge is… insane.'

'you mean you don't know who's in charge either?' asked Red Alert

Brakedown shook his head 'He likes to keep to himself, it's understandable really, if I ever saw him I would have killed him the moment I saw him.'

'We know the feeling.' Assured Red Alert 'Do you know where the bots who have been captured, the fliers and the beast bots… do you know where they are now?'

Brakedown nodded whilst stroking a hand through his metallic beard.

'Yes, they are underneath us with your captured friends, but the guards are more powerful than you realize. You need to understand that it may not be worth-'

'Well we are pretty damn powerful too!' exclaimed Cliffjumper 'We'll rescue our friends; nothing's going to change that.'

Brakedown grinned 'I'm glad to hear that. But I'm sure you know the repercussions, after all just look at what happened to your friend Jazz, he was nearly killed from our advanced weaponry, you know that you will be going up against even more than that should you try to help your friends.'

'We… understand your concern.' Said Red Alert 'But we are still going to help our friends no matter the cost'

Brakedown shrugged 'Very well, Clocker will go with you, you will need all the help in the world if you wish to go against them.'

'Thank you.' Said Red Alert 'For everything.'

'My pleasure.' Said Brakedown with a smile 'But do mind that things don't always go according to plan.'

'Noted' said an impatient Clifjumper.

The three bots began to walk out of the office as Brakedown called one last time.

'They will probably kill me for this you know.' Said Brakedown

Cliffjumper stopped in the doorway.

'They always find out.' He said before motioning to his rusted legs

Cliffjumper rushed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Cliffjumper rushed over to Red alert and Clocker who were fast walking their way down the hall in silence.

Red Alert had a disturbed look on his face.

'What's up Red?' asked Cliffjumper 'You look off… more off than usual anyway.'

'Oh…' Red brought the palm of his hand to his face 'I just- Did we tell Brakedown about Jazz?'

Cliffjumper began to slow down 'What do you mean?'

'"Just look at what happened to your friend Jazz" We told him about Jazz right?'

Cliffjumper scratched the back of his head. 'He must've been aware of the operation or something but was too scared to do anything about it.'

'Enough' snapped Clocker 'we need to haul acids, every second we spend here, a prisoner is killed.'

'Right!'

* * *

_Underground Prison_

The head guard moved from each of the prisoners.

'You seem nice.' He said to the blue Aerialbot

'Slag off fragger,'

The guard chuckled and moved to the next.

'Ah this one is taking a nap eh?' he said pointing at the fainted Grotusque

'No fun if he won't feel it.' He moved on to the next 'Ah a femme eh? Haven't played with one of you for a while.'

Arcee remained silent, moving her head back as the guard grew closer.

The guard jumped back and groaned

'So many choices, who am I supposed to kill first!'

He began to eye Wheeljack sadistically 'Ah well I suppose we can just finish what the last guy started.

He picked up a trident. While Wheeljack remained still, Pincher began to shiver.

'I got to admit, you managed to survive quite a bit from what was done to you'

Wheeljack stayed silent.

'Now I bet you'd just want to be put out of your misery anyway right?'

Wheeljack made no response.

'Heh, maybe you are already dead and- wait, ah I see now, just look at your friend!'

Pincher was shaking in his shackles; he was emitting a faint yet high pitched sound.

'Looks like he might want to take your place!'

'Pincher, don't!' ordered Arcee.

Pincher kept shaking.

The guards all laughed and readied their tridents.

'Ah hell let's just kill you all at the same time!' announced the head guard.

They all readied their tridents while cackling like hyenas.

Pincher stopped shaking, and in a single movement, he transformed his body into his large black scorpion mode, breaking the shackles in the process.

The guards put their attention to Pincher and leapt towards him

'Quick, crush him before he escapes!' spat the head guard

Pincher slithered around the guards in an almost snake-like fashion and leapt in the air- tackling the head guard to the ground. The guard stabbed at the massive scorpion yet no pain was dealt.

'Get off of me you disgusting piece of slag!'

Pincher appeared much bigger in his scorpion mode than anyone in the room had realized, he was also more deadly than anyone would have guessed. Pincher wrapped a pincer around the guard's head and began to squeeze.

The guard screamed prompting the others to help him. One guard leapt into the air with a trident in hand, thrusting it down towards Pincher's back, but the scorpion's tail was faster, moving like a bullet it pierced straight through the guard's skull before he could even touch him.

Pincher squeezed tighter around the guards skull until he managed to clamp his sharp claws together, the bots skull shattered between his claw sending it's inner mechanisms splattering across the floor. The other three began to whale on him screaming. Stabbing him with tridents from all sides only for the tridents to bend and break from the scorpion's thick black armor shell.

Pincher crawled towards the other shackled bots seemingly oblivious to the attacking bots around him.

He put his pincers around the cuffs and broke the four other Autobots loose while his tail lifted guards into the air and threw them aside.

The minute Arcee's feet hit the ground; she leaped towards the nearest guard and punched him square in the chest before unsheathing an Energon blade right through his spark chamber.

Grotusque transformed to beast mode and lunged towards a terrified guard, promptly biting the guards head and shoulders off.

The last guard cowered into the corner with his hands raised above his head.

'I surrender okay? Just let me go and I'll tell you what I know.'

Arcee grabbed the guard by the throat and slammed him to the cell wall before holding her Energon blade inches from the guard's neck.

'Just give us a reason not to!'

She turned back to see the other bots. Grotusque was helping Wheeljack to his feet in robot mode while Pincher transformed back to robot mode as well.

'Hey Grotusque!' she called 'I thought you had passed out.'

Grotusque shook his head and smiled 'Hah no, I was just playing dead see, nobody likes to kill something already dead!'

Arcee rolled her optics and turned back to the guard

'Now tell me how to get out of this hellhole.'

The guard nodded nervously and licked his lips

'The exit isn't far from here. There's a vac lift down the hall and to the left, you will end up in the grand hall from there.'

Arcee smiled and pulled away her Energon blade.

'Thank you for your coope-'

The guard's brain module splattered across the wall.

Arcee swung her head behind her and saw Pincher holding a long rifle.

'Pincher!' Arcee grabbed the Black and blue bot by the shoulder.

'What the hell is wrong with you, we're Autobots, I don't know much about how things worked on the beast planet but Autobots don't execute people!'

Pincher glared at her 'So that means you aren't an Autobot?'

'What do you-'

'Sideswipe.'

Arcee fell silent, and she began to understand what Pincher meant, she had tried to execute an Autobot… a friend, not too long ago.

'I... Are you okay?'

Pincher began to wobble back and forth like a metronome before falling flat on his face.

'Pincher?!'

Grotusque seemingly dropped Wheeljack and rushed over to the Black bot.

'It's okay… I think' said Grotusque coolly

'What do you mean?' asked Arcee 'Was he wounded?'

'No, no. it appears that transforming to his scorpion mode requires a lot of energy, the little guy is just sleeping it off.'

'Oh.'

Arcee turned to the blue Aerialbot who was leaning on the wall impatiently.

'What's your name?'

The Aerialbot looked at her and shrugged 'Dogfight, what of it.'

'You want to come with us Dogfight?'

Dogfight smirked and walked towards the corpse of one of the guards.

'Hell yeah I do, anyone as badaft as this ought to be fun to hang with.'

Arcee shrugged, 'Alright lets go, the sooner the better, Wheeljack needs medical attention.'

'Uh problem Arcee.'

'What is it Grotusque?'

Grotusque pointed to the doorway where several more guards and torturers stood, all charging large weaponry.

'You didn't expect to leave did you?' said a sword toting guard.

'Yeah, actually we did.' Said a weakened Wheeljack

Arcee put an arm on the engineers shoulder.

'Wheeljack, you're hurt, don't try to-'

'Activate Energon recharger.' said Wheeljack

The engineer's body began to glow with energy until his torso became whole again.

'What were you saying?'

Arcee grinned 'Nothing.

'What about Pincher?' asked Grotusque.

'He was only in beast mode for about three minutes, he should be back soon enough.'

Wheeljack unsheathed a sword while aiming his shoulder cannon.

'Now then, what are you all waiting for a starting gun? Let's roll!'

The guards charged into the room towards the five Autobots.

* * *

_Velocitron circuit._

'Override wait, this is your final warning!'

'Blow it out of your exhaust Hotshot, I aint falling for it.'

Hotshot began to slow down. Perhaps it really was useless; there would be no way to save Override with her stubbornness, unless.

Hotshot grinded his engine block until he could have sworn it was in flames. He made it to Overrides side.

'Fine I give up Override, I suppose I'm just going to have to beat you the easy way this time.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'It means that I'm going to kick your skid plate into next century.'

'Hah yeah right.'

As the two revved their engines, an alarm went off signalling them to stop.

'_Alert, interference with the track, all racers stop what you are doing.'_

'Aw what?' Override braked 'What's going on?'

Hotshot skidded to a halt. _That wasn't part of the plan to take the shot for Override, but no complaints_ he thought to himself.

Override transformed and glared at the judges in the stands.

'What is going on?!'

Hotshot looked up at the sky and gasped.

Override looked at the red bot curiously 'What? What is-'

'MOVE!' Hotshot tackled override to the ground as a large metallic meteor tore through the road.

Override pushed Hotshot off of her and rubbed her head

'What was that? What-?'

Hotshot grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away as two more meteors hit the bridge.

'They found us, they know we aren't dead!'

'Who?!'

Hotshot stopped and pointed ahead as 15 robots with purple insignia's crawled from the holes created by the meteors.

'The Decepticons!'


	22. The Greater Good

Flatline furrowed his brow as he checked the readings yet again, something was definitely off but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

He turned back to the others, ever since the major strike teams had left to hunt down the Autobots, the ship had become empty, loitering around the large medical facility on the ship were the Seekers, the Targetmasters and a few others, this made up nearly 70% of the Decepticons on board however only Thundercracker, Skywarp and Spinister were paying any attention to him.

'The look on your face says something is wrong.' said Skywarp 'So… something is wrong isn't it?'

Flatline waved a finger in his general direction 'Not quite, the scans show that she is growing at a rapid rate, the only question is _why _she is.'

'And the talking?' asked Thundercracker 'What about that? Most sparklings don't learn how to talk until after a few weeks, she learned it on her own in two days.'

'That… is still a difficult question to answer, anyways there is no harm done so we shouldn't worry too much about it.'

The Sparkling was locked in the quarantine zone, a large empty room in the med bay with one of its walls made entirely of Plexi glass so that the surgeons could view the subject from the outside, claw marks spotted the white steel walls telling a story with each incision, the Sparkling wasn't fazed by it in the slightest. She was sitting upright, and eyeing Thundercracker. There was something unnerving about it to him, she had recently grown a faceplate (one similar to Hardshell's) and was now a mix of dark blue and silver, her limbs were still nearly paper thin and stretched out with extra joints, her arms especially as they reached her ankles while still standing upright, her helmet was similar to that of Soundwave's with the exception of two thin metallic appendages that drooped from her audio receptors, like a couple of long almost elfish ears. Thundercracker could get passed all this, but it was her large red eyes that struck him as disturbing, they were both perfect circles with black borders surrounding them. They just kept staring, and staring, and staring.

Thundercracker finally looked away and turned back to Flatline.

'Thanks Flatline, we appreciate it'

The surgeon turned his back on the three and went back to his work

'Yes, yes of course'

Spinister sighed and turned to both Skywarp and Thundercracker.

'I guess some things are best not knowing eh?'

'Hell no!' the three cons turned to see Dirge who was clenching his fists.

Thundercracker mouthed his displeasure to Spinister and approached the cone headed seeker.

'What is it now Dirge?'

Dirge gently shoved aside Thundercracker and approached Spinister.

'We can't just disregard something like this and forget it ever happened, something at this level of absurdity just _has _to be investigated.'

Spinister's voice remained calm

'I simply implied that since we do not have a way of knowing what all this is about, that we should leave it on hold for now, and when the opportunity arises- debate further on whether the situation is worth investigating further. But for now, that just isn't the case.'

The purple and black target master eyed the sparkling lamely, 'right now we are stuck with a handful of questions that we cannot answer.'

Dirge rubbed his forehead and pointed at the sparkling behind the plexi glass window.

'Well what about her? She's bound to have pre implanted information for a direct purpose like the rest of us.'

'I already questioned her' admitted Skywarp 'She said she only knows the history of the Cybertronian race, all the main events that took place, but nothing more.'

Skywarp eyed the blue bot in disgust 'Then she just kept asking 'What am I' on and on, again and again, over and-'

Thundercracker raised a hand 'We get it Skywarp' he turned back to Dirge, 'Frankly it isn't up to you to- Dirge…'

'What?!'

Thundercracker pointed at Dirge's face

'You're crying.'

'What?' Dirge rubbed his optics and felt a warm, wet, sandpaper like substance leaking from his optics. He observed his hands and examined the glowing liquid before rushing towards Flatline.'

'Er what was that?' asked Skywarp

'That was no optic fluid I've seen,' added Spinister 'It was all…'

'Blue and glowy!' finished Skywarp with a snap of his fingers.

'Yeah that's it.' Spinister eyed Thundercracker who as watching Dirge talking to Flatline.

'You know what that stuff was Thundercracker?' asked Spinister.

Thundercracker shrugged 'Perhaps… perhaps not.'

Skywarp took a big stretch and yawned 'Well that's another mystery to forget about… say what are they up to?' he asked while pointing at Slugslinger and Misfire who were kneeling next to something from across the room.

Skywarp waited for an answer from the two broody bots and sighed. He reluctantly moved towards the two target masters to find out himself.

'Hey guys.' He said greeting the two jets.

Misfire looked up and smiled 'Oh hey Skywarp, sup?'

'Nothing much… what're you looking at there?'

'Oh, this' Misfire moved to the side to let Skywarp take his place, it was Cyclonus. He was curled up; shaking, on the cool metal floor with his arms around his head.'

'What's wrong with him?'

'Dunno, we've been poking at him with these sticks though' answered Slugslinger holding up a thin metal wire. 'It's helped keep us preoccupied ever since Needlenose banned us on his server in Cybe wars 3.'

'_Slugslinger was the one who cheated… I only died a lot' _muttered Misfire.

'Anyways…' continued Slugslinger 'Are you going to tell us to cut it out 'cause you're a higher rank than us?'

Skywarp shook his head and laughed 'Nah, give me one of those sticks, I want in on this too.'

Slugslinger snatched Misfire's stick from his grasp and handed it to Skywarp

'Here you go.'

'Hey, that one was mine!' snapped Misfire

'Get out of here Misfire no one likes you!' ordered Slugslinger

'Yeah, beat it!'

Misfire sighed and got up to leave but stopped and turned back to Cyclonus.

He listened in over the laughter of Slugslinger and Skywarp and could hear Cyclonus muttering to himself.

_Lvtrn….lvtrn…lvtrn._

'Hey Misfire I thought I told you to leave.'

'What? Oh sorry, I thought I could hear somet-'

'Listen up boys!'

Slipstream entered the medical facility proudly with Needlenose and Soundwave in tow. Decepticons lined up and straightened their posture as Skywarp nudged Slugslinger to drop the poking sticks.

'We've found Starscream' she announced 'He's currently running around in the basement from –what Soundwave calls it- a giant space T-Rex.'

Low chuckling could be heard among the Decepticons. Slipstream stood waiting for it to die down, but after a few seconds, Soundwave reached in his chest and pulled out the dented, bleeding, limbless body of Frenzy.

Everyone fell silent.

'We need to take this seriously' Slipstream began as Soundwave calmly carried Frenzy to a recharge slab.

'Sending a cassetticon to survey the area for the monster was a mistake, I underestimated the enemy that Soundwave had told me about, but now I know that we will need to take out this monster, and capture Starscream, if he keeps sending the signal as we expect he is, then the Dino will be the least of our worries.'

She raised her emp shotgun into the air. 'Now who's with me, who will come with us to end these menaces once and for all!'

Misfire, Skywarp and Slugslinger immediately stepped forward, from the other side, Quake, Triggerhappy, Ramjet and Demolishor raised their weapons and nodded.

Dirge approached Slipstream and bowed 'I shall help you as well my lord'

Slipstream patted the larger bot on the head and chuckled softly 'Very well, everyone gear up, we're going in for the kill.'

As Skywarp loaded his scatter blaster, he spotted Thundercracker in the corner of his optic, he was working on mending Frenzy with the help of Thrust and Power punch while Vanquish and Fireshot helped Flatline on Cyclonus.

'Hey TC, aren't you coming?'

Thundercracker shook his head while keeping his optic on Frenzy.

'You aren't telling me you're too much of a wimp are you?'

'I've given up on fighting, I told you that already.'

Skywarp turned his back on him and scoffed

'Jetfire would say otherwise.'

Thundercracker tightened his grip on the laser scalpel.

'Hey Skywarp…'

Skywarp paused 'Yeah?'

'Be sure to message me when you defeat Starscream, send a pic of the look that will be on his face when you beat him.'

'Heh sure.'

* * *

_Velocitron_

Bluestreak, Hound and the cloaked bot stayed close, any guard that spotted them was soon knocked unconscious and moved out of sight.

'Alright guys,' began Hound 'Cliffjumper's signal is not too far from here, we'll be able to meet up with him and Red and-'

As they turned a corner a short blue and red bot nearly bumped into them, The cloaked bot unsheathed a blade from under his cloak and lunged forward only to be stopped by another energon blade. He traced the blade down to its wielder, it was Cliffjumper.

'What the frag are you doing?' asked the little red bot.

The cloaked bot unsheathed his own blade and glared at the stranger

'I'm sorry, who is this?'

'Ah, this here is Clocker, he's the one helping us get to the prison.'

Clocker offered a handshake.

'I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot friend, won't happen again yeah?'

The bot shot Clocker an icy glance and continued down the hall.

'I still don't trust him' he paused midway and looked back at the five bots staring blankly at him.

'Trust me, I know who to trust and who not to.' He said with a snarl.

* * *

_Velocitronian Circuit._

'Get back' ordered Hotshot with a shove.

15 Cybertronians wearing purple badges all emerged from the craters; Hotshot counted each one and recognized their faces.

The Constructicons: Dirtboss, Scrapper, Mixmaster, Longhaul, Hook, Bonecrusher and Scavenger

The Stunticons: Motormaster, Breakdown, Dead end, Dragstrip and Wildrider

And some other guys that Hotshot knew merely from one of Ironhide's lessons on who's who in the Decepticon army.

Barricade, Groundhog, Motorhead and Rollerforce.

Wildrider was the first to notice Hotshot from his crater and smiled playfully.

'Hey it's that Auto-bug!' announced the black and red Stunticon.

The other Decepticons directed their attention to the Autobot and took a moment to brush themselves off before transforming their arms into weaponry.

Motormaster raised a sword and yelled with a booming voice to the Autobot.

'Autobot, lead us to your colleagues and your death will be _almost _painless.'

Breakdown looked up at his commander with a raised lip 'Seriously? Wouldn't it be easier if we had just told him we came in peace, _then _blow his brains out?'

Motormaster smacked Breakdown with the back of his hand sending the smaller bot to the ground.

'Fool, we need him to lead us to the rest of them, that way we can take them all down at once!'

Breakdown picked himself up and coughed 'We already have their signals on our maps, we don't need him to-'

Hotshot drove towards the bots and transformed- landing a fist against Motormaster's face. Motormaster merely laughed it off and charged the small Autobot with Wildrider close behind. Hotshot transformed back to vehicle mode and made circles around the two Stunticons as the others watched.

'Idiot' muttered Breakdown. The Stunticon eyed his yellow companion; Dragstrip curiously. Dragstrip was staring at the area they were in; they were in a large stadium where the road stretched for miles. Large bleacher's contained what looked like thousands of civilians scrambling over each other trying to figure out what was going on.

'What's up Dragstrip?'

Dragstrip made a gesture to the road ahead of them. 'I've been here before.'

'You have?'

Dragstrip nodded 'Yeah… used to race here before the war, before they moved the place at least.'

Breakdown pretended to understand 'Ah I see now.'

Dragstrip stared at the ground 'Which must mean…' The Stunticon transformed into a yellow and black speedster and barrelled off the track, racing outside of the stadium.

'Hey Drag, where are you-'but before Breakdown could finish, the Stunticon was already out of sight.

Breakdown groaned and looked at the others; The Constructicons were seemingly climbing over each other aimlessly as Dirt Boss watched.

'Okay, now Scrapper, a little more to the left- Hook, fold yourself up more- yes Longhaul, you become the crotch, no Bonecrusher, you aren't a leg.'

Breakdown nudged Barricade in the rib 'What the hell are they doing?' He whispered

'No clue.'

'HEY GUYS BARRICADE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!' shouted the yellow and blue Decepticon; Ground Hog

Barricade and Breakdown immediately raised their hands to their audio receptors and yelled

'Damnit Ground Hog!' yelled Barricade 'What did I say about inside voices?!'

'OH!...sorry.'

Dirtboss cleared his throat

'If you wish to know… we are trying to combine ourselves.'

Barricade was silent for a moment before answering

'What?'

'Heheh we're gonna combine like the combaticons.' chuckled Mixmaster.

Roller force laughed 'Seriously? You guys don't even have combiner tech in you, what makes you think you can become a Bruticus.'

Barricade moved closer to put a hand on Dirtboss's shoulder- only to realize that Dirtboss had no shoulder's and stopped.

'Besides there are seven of you, Bruticus only has… _had _five components.'

Dirtboss waved a hand in disgust 'Ah what do you know, you aint even tried'

He turned to his team and smiled 'Now _this _is a true Devastator'

Scrapper and Mixmaster made up the "legs" they were doing nothing more than handstands while their feet held up Long haul's horizontal vehicle mode, Hook was lying face down on-top of Longhaul while Scavenger and Bonecrusher hung onto Hook for dear life as they dangled off of the tower of bots.

'Guys!' shouted Motormaster who was being fired upon by the Autobot in vehicle mode 'A little help?'

Breakdown looked at the failed combiner one last time and chuckled

'Alright, alright we're coming, come on guys.'

Dead End was sitting next to the Constructicons with his legs crossed.

'Nah.'

Barricade, Motorhead, Ground hog and Rollerforce all charged forward while Breakdown moved closer to Dead end.

'What do you mean "nah?"' he said strictly

'I mean I don't want to, who cares anyway right? Even if we _do _catch him he will only escape if we keep him prisoner, then if we kill him, his friends will come for revenge and murder us for our evil deeds, then comes the afterlife which-'

'Okay enough!' yelled Breakdown, 'You can stay here with the Constructicons. I'm going to go do my job.'

Breakdown promptly marched over to Motormaster and the others who were all firing aimlessly at the red and yellow car.

* * *

_The Nemesis: Lower decks_

'I don't know but I've been told!'

'I don't know but I've been told!'

'Starscream outta be very bold!'

'Starscream outta be very bold!'

'We are great and Starscream sucks!'

'We are great and Starscream sucks!'

'Er… something something… hockey pucks.'

Slugslinger stopped marching and raised a hand.

'I can't take it anymore, where is the element of surprise in all this?'

Slipstream stopped and signalled the others to halt as well. The 10 Decepticons were walking down the dark hallways of the lower decks of the Nemesis, only their head lights could light the first few metres of the halls, past that was pitch black.

'Hm… that's true, but don't you feel more pumped after chanting and marching?'

'No... not really.'

Slipstream sighed 'Fine, enough with the chanting and the marching, let's just go and capture him so we can all live in peace.'

Skywarp nudged Demolishor 'So, do you think Starscream is the one broadcasting our signal to – to you know who?'

Demolishor shrugged 'Who else could it be?'

Skywarp shrugged 'Yeah I guess you've got a point.'

The Seeker observed the others, Quake and Triggerhappy were already becoming fidgety with excitement, neither con had been able to shoot anything for weeks, and both were ready to make up for it here. Were they really going to kill Starscream? Slipstream said it would be a capture, but from the look on these bots faces it looked like they were ready to slaughter an army. Skywarp had to admit he hated Starscream as much as the next guy, but they were still family, it felt wrong to just write him off in any minute. Skywarp counted the heads of the Decepticons he was walking with. He hated each one; he could name a problem each one of them had.

Slipstream was immature and quite possibly crazy, Soundwave was a leaders pet, a nerd, and a bore. Of course everyone hated Soundwave (despite the fact that some Decepticons had come to respect him after his _heroics _in the Ark's prison cell), Dirge was more of a leaders pet than Soundwave ever since Slipstream showed up, Misfire couldn't shoot a damn thing even if he was aiming at Omega Supreme at point blank range, Slugslinger was a coward and a cheat, Triggerhappy was insane, Quake and Ramjet were idiots, and Demolishor only ever cared about killing.

The only bot's Skywarp didn't hate were Thundercacker and Cascade, and the latter had been dead for thousands of years.

Nonetheless he was still willing to give Starscream an aft kicking. Nothing more. Nothing less.

'Soundwave' called Slipstream 'can you get a hold of Starscream's signal yet?'

Soundwave nodded 'Yes my lord. By my calculations, Starscream should be right-'

Starscream came running out of the shadows, his body was scratched and charred with slash and bite marks all over him.

He immediately saw Slipstream and leapt at her.

'Oh no you don't' Dirge yelled as he threw himself in front of Slipstream.

Starscream leapt onto Dirge, wrapping himself around him as he sobbed

'pleasehelpmepleasehelpmeplea se…'

'Ah get off of me.' Dirge dropped Starscream to the ground who curled himself into a ball and continued to sob.

Slipstream clapped her hand together.

'Well that was quick!'

The other Decepticons shrugged in disappointment, except for Skywarp who was secretly grateful.

Slipstream did an unenthusiastic thumb's up

'So uh… yaaaaay… great work guys… drinks on me… I guess.'

Soundwave raised his hand. 'My lord, there is still the monster I had told you about.'

Slipstream flung her arms into the air 'Oh yes, the giant lizard that tried to kill Starscream. Oh Soundwave you are ever so intelligent, why must you act so silly at a time like-'

A large roar emitted from the darkness as large footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Slipstream transformed her arm back into a blaster

'Ready your weapons.'

* * *

_Velocitron: The Underground Prison Complex_

Wheeljack fired another missile from his shoulder sending a group of guards flying under the missiles impact, crippling them.

'That's my last one.' Yelled the Autobot engineer.

More guards advanced, some with blasters, some with swords, either way the Autobots were winning.

'This is much easier than it was with Razorclaw' said Grotusque who was carrying Pincher on his back. 'Do these guys suck or are we really just this good?'

Arcee provided cover fire with a dropped pistol from one of the fallen guards.

'Not sure, then again I can't say I have the slightest clue what is going on in general.'

'They aren't experienced' answered Wheeljack who plunged a sword into a guard's stomach. 'They are just rushing us and attacking blindly, it's as if they haven't faced any sort of action before.'

Dogfight hovered in Jet mode and unleashed a barrage of missile fire at the remaining few guards blowing them to smithereens.

'Damn it Dogfight we aren't supposed to kill them.' Yelled Wheeljack

Dogfight transformed back to robot mode 'What the hell are you on about; you just slaughtered a ton of em.'

Wheeljack pointed at the impaled guard 'The only guards that were killed were the ones in the cell; We didn't hit their spark chambers, or brain modules. You disintegrated the lot of them!'

Dogfight shrugged 'Whatever…'

'There's no time.' interrupted Arcee. 'If we move now then we may be able to escape this place before more guards arrive.'

Wheeljack nodded 'Agreed, let's move.'

Without enough space to transform, the four Autobot's walked, Grotusque in beast mode while Pincher lied on his back.

'So Jack…' began Arcee 'What you were saying back there.'

Wheeljack turned to her and raised a brow 'What do you mean?'

'You said that – when that bot hurt you, you said that you couldn't feel pain.'

Wheeljack kept quiet

'Was that - were you just saying that in order to throw the guy off… or were you-'

'I was telling the truth.' His instantaneous response caused Arcee to flinch.

'I can't feel any form of pain, no matter how severe.'

'But… how?'

Wheeljack stepped over a downed guard and continued 'I already said- I've failed too many times trying to create the perfect invention, only for it to blow up in my face.' He stared at his feet as he walked 'My body just became resistant after a while.'

Arcee stared at the ground.

'So, what is this perfect invention exactly?'

Wheeljack brought his head up and glared at Arcee for a good 30 seconds before looked back down at his feet.

'I can't tell you.'

'Why not?'

'Because any time I would ever tell someone about the project they would send me to a psychiatrist and destroy my plans. I used to think they were scared, hell they probably were, but in the end they just think I'm stupid. I would always get back on my feet though… always.'

Arcee stopped and put a hand on Wheeljack's shoulder.

'Wheeljack, I can tell how important this project is to you… you can tell me about it if you'd like, I promise I won't say anything to the others.'

Wheeljack froze and raised a hand to the side of his head.

'You hear that? It sounds like a vac lift; I think it might be just around this corner.'

Several pieces of weaponry flipped out and extended from Dogfight's exterior until he became fully loaded with guns.

'Alright guys I'm ready'

Wheeljack smacked himself in the face 'Why didn't you _say _you were a Trigger in the first place Dogfight?'

Dogfight looked down at his body. 'Huh? Oh you mean the dozens of guns that are hidden within my exostructure? Yeah I've had that for as long as I can remember, why?'

Wheeljack shrugged 'Never mind, I was just told all the Triggers were extinct is all'

Dogfight took a moment to take in Wheeljack's words then nodded.

'Sounds like the vac lift is active' said Grotusque 'Someone's coming down.'

Wheeljack nodded in agreement.

'Ready your guns Dogfight, you're going in first.'

* * *

_The vacuum lift_

'Don't worry guys' said Clocker 'Once the vac lift hits ground floor, it is pretty straight forward from there.'

'Great, and as for security?' asked Red Alert

'There shouldn't be any guards at all.'

'Brilliant' said the cloaked bot.

Cliffjumper sighed and lowered his weapon.

'Alright guys, we're hitting ground floor in…'

_Below_

'We're attacking in three'

_Above_

'_Two'_

_Below_

'_One'_

The Vacuum lift opened up and Clocker was the first to step out.

'Go!' shouted Wheeljack

Dogfight leaped around the corner and immediately opened fire, several guns and rockets unloaded into Clocker leaving large gaping holes in the velocitronian's body.

* * *

_Velocitronian Circuit_

Hotshot dodged another one of Motormaster's fists only to take a kick to the jaw by Motorhead.

'Bam Barricade didja see me? I just kicked him in the face!'

'Shut up and focus Motorhead' Barricade continued firing at Hotshot, and managed to hit him. He was slowing down, only a matter of time before he was finished.

Hotshot spat a tooth and raised his path blasters.

'That all you got?'

'No.' answered Motormaster who transformed to truck mode 'This is!'

Motormaster rammed himself into Hotshot

Override Screamed 'Hotshot!'

Hotshot managed to free himself from the raging truck and fell to the side of the track.

The Autobot tried to pick himself up only to fall onto one knee. He turned his head and spotted the femme standing a few metres away from him.

'Override? What are you still doing here?'

Override was at a loss for words as Barricade approached the downed Autobot.

'Sorry pal, but this is the end of the road.'

'Ahahah nice one boss.' Called Motorhead enthusiastically 'End of the road… and we're on the road. It was hilarious'

'Shut up Motorhead'

The Black and white bot placed the barrel of his gun on Hotshot's forehead.

'Any last words Auto-'

'STOP THIS!'

Barricade turned his head and spotted the red and white femme that was yelling at him.

'And… why should I?' he called back.

'…Because as leader of this planet, I order you to stop what you are doing immediately'

Barricade looked to the others and back to Override before laughing.

'And why exactly should I do that?'

Override looked up to see several several guards on hover platforms swooping down holding large rifles, among them were a familiar face.

'What is all this Override?'

'Backstreet, these idiots have interrupted the coronation races, I order them to be taken into custody immediately.'

'Custody?' Motormaster cracked his knuckles 'We don't need to take this from these aftholes. I say we crush 'em and be done with it.'

Barricade transformed his arm back to normal and raised it 'Wait Motormaster…'

He stepped forward and raised both arms in surrender.

'We apologize… completely, for the damages we caused, we had crashed in safety pods from our ship and- what I'm trying to say is that we didn't mean it and we will gladly pay for the damages.'

Breakdown gripped Barricade's shoulder violently and whispered

'_What the hell do you think you're doing?'_

'_Relax'_

Backstreet rubbed his chin before speaking.

'Very well, but no violence will be tolerated on this planet, is that understood?'

'Crystal'

'Very well now-'

The pathetically attached form of the Constructicons limped towards the scene.

'Rawr, we are… er… _Constructor _and we are going to murderize yo- Damnit Scavenger'

The green Constructicon fell off of the larger body and hit the ground with a thud.

Dirtboss transformed and leapt off of Hook.

'We _had _it, and you just screwed it up!'

As the Constructicons bickered, Barricade rubbed his optic lenses.

'Ignore them' he said to Backstreet 'They're idiots'

Backstreet waved the guards to lower their weapons and lowered his hover platform until he was optic level with Barricade.

'Understood, now then, do you have any further questions?'

Override stomped over to Backstreet and jabbed a finger at him.

'Are you blind? These… _Decepticons, _were just about to execute Hotshot! That has to have been some sort of…'

'Override' Hotshot managed to stand up despite his injuries, he turned to the Velocitronian and gave a tired look. 'Please, it's fine.'

'Then it's settled' Backstreet turned his head from Barricade, to Hotshot, and back again.

'Now as I was saying, do you have any further questions?'

Barricade clasped his hands together

'Just one' he began 'What exactly is a "Coronation Race"?'

* * *

_Nemesis: lower decks_

Grimlock's tail slammed itself into Soundwave sending the communications officer flying against the wall.

Slipstream leaped back and reloaded her rifle

'Quake, Demolishor, Tank modes now!'

The two Decepticons transformed into their heavily armored tank modes and fired upon the massive Tyrannosaurus. The thunder lizard opened and closed its jaws, snapping violently at the air as if it were the cause of his pain.

'Dirge, help up Soundwave. Skywarp, cloak and strike from behind with Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Misfire, keep up the cover fire, Ramtruck do your thing.'

Ramjet transformed his servo from a scrapmaker back into his regular five digit hand.

"'Ramtruck" I'll show them what a Ramtruck can do…'

Ramjet bent himself over until his cone head was pointing forward

'YAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHH' Ramjet sprinted forward at Grimlock and rammed his conehead into the beasts stomach.

Grimlock let out a massive roar and jumped back in pain.

Slipstream raised a fist 'Yeah! Nice one Ram-Dino'

Ramjet tried to unhinge himself from the Dinobot's chest and spat.

'Damnit I thought I told you my name is Ramje-'

Grimlock slammed his chest to the ground crushing the seeker beneath him.

'Ramdino!' Before Quake could react, Grimlock's foot came crashing down on top of him caving in the armored Mech.

'Damn you!' Demolishor boosted himself forward only for Grimlock's tail to smash into him sending him crashing back into the floor.

Slipstream cursed under her breath before firing a missile from her wrist.

Dirge carried Soundwave over his shoulder as he approached Slipstream.

'So what's the plan this time boss?'

Slipstream raised a hand in front of her face. 'Just give me a moment to think.'

Triggerhappy continued to fire wildly at the Beast without a care about his surroundings.

'BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!'

'Quiet Triggerhappy' snapped Misfire 'I need to focus' Licking the edge of his mouth, Misfire aimed his blaster at Grimlock, his hand shaking.

Skywarp de-cloaked behind the T-Rex with Slugslinger and readied his weapons.

'Alright Slugs, you stay here and open fire, I'll go up ahead and-'

A laser blast fired through Grimlock's legs and hit Slugslinger, blowing apart the Decepticons face in the process.

'What the he- Misfire!'

'I'm sorry!' he screamed 'I was aiming for the enemy!'

Grimlock's jaw joints began to spin as his mouth opened wide. A wave a flame torched the ground before him roasting the floor to a pitch black.

'AHFIREHOTFIREHOTFIREHOT!' Triggerhappy ran around in circles as the fire burned into his skull.

Skywarp fell to his knees; the smell of burnt metal stung his nasal circuits as he tried to make sense the situation.

Soundwave shoved Dirge off of him as he approached Slipstream who was apparently zoning out despite the situation.

'Lord Slipstream, I suggest that we-'

Slipstream snapped back into consciousness and pointed a finger at Soundwave.

'Soundwave, eject Rumble'

Soundwave nodded, 'Understood. Rumble, Eject, Operation, Earthquake.'

Rumble ejected from Soundwave's chest cavity and landed firmly on his feet

'Get ready to crumble, before Rumble!' The small bot activated his pile drivers and continuously slammed the floor of the ship.

The goliath swayed before tipping over and crashing down against the floor of the ship.

'Now Soundwave quickly, transform and activate sonicboom emitters!'

Soundwave leapt into the air and transformed into his radio mod, landing next to Grimlock's head.

'Everyone shut off your audio receptors' ordered Slipstream 'this'll be loud.'

The moment Grimlock raised his head and viewed the sleek purple Decepticon symbol on the blue radio; a blast of sound erupted from his speakers coursing through the Dinobot's body, until his Audio receptors burst. Within seconds, Grimlock stopped moving, and went into stasis lock. Slowly his body changed shape until he was back into his smaller robot mode.

Slipstream rubbed the back of her head and laughed

'Hah I knew that would work.'

Soundwave Transformed back into robot mode and made his way to the quivering Starscream.

'What are you orders Slipstream?'

Slipstream stuck out her tongue and observed the wrecked hallway.

'First, capture Starscream. Then carry that… thing-'

'Grimlock'

'What?'

Skywarp tip toed over the titan carrying Slugslinger over his shoulder.

'This is one of the Autobot's most powerful mechs; Grimlock'

'Grimlock?!' said a frightened Misfire 'What is _he _doing here?'

Skywarp merely shrugged 'who knows, but from the look of all-' Skywarp gestured to the wrecked scenery '-all _this, _it is obvious that he was angry.

'Speaking of which.' Began Dirge 'What's our er… status?'

Slipstream snapped her fingers and turned to Soundwave

'Soundwave, status report.'

'Quake, Demolishor and Ramjet appear to be salvageable, Slugslinger may need some extensive repairs, and Triggerhappy-'

'AHHHI'M STILL ON FIRE YOU MONSTERSSSS!'

'Is still on fire… you monsters.'

Slipstream flung both of her arms into the air.

'Woohoo no casualties, now that- that is what I call a clean break'

Skywarp shouldered Misfire and shot him an Icy glance

"yay"

* * *

_Velocitron_

'WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!'

Clocker lied face down in a pool of leaked Energon, Wheeljack leapt out around the corner and stood in front of Dogfight.

'Guys, it's us don't shoot!'

Wheeljack nodded at the others who walked out shamefully.

'Who the hell is that?!' asked an armed Cliffjumper 'What did he do? Brainwash you into letting him kill Clocker?'

'Relax' assured Arcee 'He's with us, this was all just a misunderstanding believe us.'

Cliffjumper walked towards Dogfight threateningly.

'Then why did he shoot the minute he saw Clocker?'

Dogfight pushed Wheeljack away and stood over Cliffjumper.

'Because this "Clocker", was sticking a trident into you buddy Wheeljack here just a few minutes ago!'

The Autobots fell silent as Wheeljack walked over to Clocker's body, he lifted him up by the neck and examined his face.

'Yup.' Wheeljack dropped the body and turned his head to the others

'He's telling the truth, this guy was just in our cell, cutting me to bits, thank Primus I had a spare Energon recharger on hand (never leave home without one) otherwise I'd be dead.'

'Wait a minute' Cliffjumper turned from Wheeljack, to Clocker, and back again.

'So the oil that I spotted on his chest was-'

'My oil yes.'

Cliffjumper shook his head 'Primus…'

The cloaked bot turned to Red Alert and let out a hiss 'You let a torturer guide you down here, if it wasn't for that Aerialbot over there we would probably have been lead into a trap!'

Red Alert raised his arms in surrender 'I'm sorry, he was recommended by an agent with high authority whom genuinely agrees with us.'

The cloaked bot lowered his guard 'You found our mole?'

'A mole?'

'Yeah, we have a mole that leaks info to us, that's how we learned of this place.'

Red Alert thought to himself _Brakedown is a mole for them? Why didn't he say?_

'Uh guys?'

The Bots turned to Bluestreak who was kneeling next to Clocker

'He's still alive.'

The cloaked bot kneeled next to Clocker and brought a blade next to his throat

'You'll lead us to the prison's nerve core, won't you?'

Clocker nodded weakly.

'Very well' the cloaked bot held up Clocker and aimed him down the hall.

'Lead the way'

* * *

_The Nemesis_

Hab suite doors opened and two tall Decepticons walked out.

'Man Spinister, I was totally gonna beat em that time'

'…Sure you were'

'I totally was!'

Needlenose took another step and spun around.

'What is it?' asked Spinister

'You know Quake's stupid Boombox that he leaves in the suite that always has that timer going down?'

'Yeah… what of it?'

'Is it just me, or did it hit zero while we were in there?'

'Who cares' groaned the helicopter

Needlenose sighed 'Yeah I guess, say it sounds like there's some cheering up ahead; I think they found Starscream, let's go se-'

Spinster placed a hand on Needlenose's shoulder and squeezed

'I can't see him remember?'

Needlenose's slumped his posture 'Oh… Right.'

He sighed and scratched his head 'I'll go see him then, I'll tell you about it kay?'

Spinister nodded 'Sure, I'll be in the mess.'

'Ight, later man'

'Bye'

The two cons walked away from the suite leaving the hallway empty… almost.

The Boombox transformed into a larger robot. The bot was primarily red with pieces of yellow highlights here and there, the bot took a moment to regain full consciousness, then a smile crept across his faceplate.

'YES! Finally after 482 years, I am finally awake and it is feeling awwwwesome.'

The bot snapped his fingers 'Oh yeah, almost forgot.' The bot's chest opened up and five miniature bots leapt out.

'Rewind, Eject, Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Rossana wakey wakey!'

The bots rubbed their optics hazily and stood up.

'Eject reporting for duty coach! Ready when you are to go through the play sir!'

The bot immediately high fived the smaller blue bots shoulder

'Hell yeah now that's the kind of attitude I wanna hear!'

Steeljaw groaned and crawled closer to his master

'…I want to go back inside… need more sleep.'

'No way pal, you're spending an all-nighter tonight, Everyone else with me?'

Ramhorn leaped on hind legs in his alien – like rhinoceros mode. 'Hell yes'

Rossana took a second to read some words off of her wrist- then spoke

"Yes, let us do good Autobot killing and stop those evil Decepticons"

Rosanna chuckled to herself.

'Er okay, Rewind? What about you?'

The small Black and Red bot was kneeling next to a wall, his finger running alongside its patterns as he watched cautiously.

'Rewind, what are you doing?'

Rewind spun his head around and looked up at his leader.

'Sorry Blaster, I was just examining the materials made into this wall, fascinating enough it appears that the walls were made from the same alloy as-'

'Spare me the science-talk Rewind.'

Blaster examined his smaller troops and crossed his arms

'Alright guys, we're all awake, now let's get back to work and finish what we started, Prime will be pleased!'

The cassete-bots raised their fists (and paws) into the air.

'Yeah!'

* * *

_Velocitron_

The ten bots made their way down the hallways, walking passed the screaming prisoners trapped within their cells. Pincher had woken up and managed to walk on his own much to Grotusque's delight.

As the cloaked bot lead the group, Wheeljack and Arcee greeted the others, shaking hands with Hound, Cliffjumper, Bluestreak and Red Alert.

'Say Bluestreak' said Wheeljack 'Mind telling us what the pit is going on?'

'Oh yeah Arcee and Grotusque were stuck in a cell this whole time'

'Yeah, me and Pinch were knocked out and brought here soon after we entered that Velocitron place - or whatever.'

Bluestreak smiled and waved Arcee and Grotusque over.

'So basically the thing is' he began 'Before the war there were these sports jockeys who wanted to play badminton or whatever instead of fight in the war so they left Cybertron and landed on this planet, then they set things up and attracted visitors but wanted to stop fighting so they brought everyone who isn't a car or whoever is angry enough to start a riot here to kill diversity and racism along with it. So basically this is evil and the cliché over there with the hood is leading a rebellion to stop them, also we don't know where they get their Energon from but it's probably illegal also.'

The Autobots stared blankly at the bot.

'Is that a joke?' asked Arcee

Cliffjumper jumped in and playfully pushed the black and red bot aside.

'Trust me when I say the boss over there is a much better explainer than Streak is.'

The Autobots laughed

'So anyway.' Said Grotusque in his Beast mode 'You guys know what the hobo looks like under his rags?'

Cliffjumper was the only one to laugh.

'No' replied Hound 'I made a bet with Bluestreak that he's just a nobody, but he insists that it's Prowl'

'Prowl?' asked Arcee quizzically 'I thought he was dead and gone.'

Bluestreak waved a hand in the air 'yeah, yeah, I know but-'

He lowered his voice '_I have a strong hunch, you'll see'_

Red Alert thought to himself, He knew who the cloaked bot was; a Decepticon, Red Alert knew this for a fact, but if Bluestreak found out… then the revelation would crush him.

Wheeljack took a moment to count heads and asked the question he was wondering.

'Where are Jazz and Hotshot?'

Silence. Cliffjumper was the first to speak, albeit without his usual gung ho voice that he normally used.

'Jazz was hurt… bad. He couldn't come, Hotshot abandoned us to do something dumb.'

Wheeljack stared at the ground he was treading 'I gotcha, sorry for asking.'

The cloaked bot stopped

'Clocker says this is the place.'

The Autobots stood in front of a cylindrical elevator pointing down; it was large enough to fit about 20 bots inside.

'Let's board up' he said 'this elevator will take us to the nerve core. We're almost there.'

The bots boarded into the large Elevator as the cloaked bot punched in the co-ordinates.

The elevator doors closed and it began to move, all was silent in the elevator until the cloaked bot began to speak to no one in particular

'I said that I always knew who to trust.'

As he spoke, 9 sets of optics rested on him.

'I was right about Clocker, I was right about our mole, and I was right about you guys. I have found that besides my carefully recruited friends, I trust you all as much'

As he spoke, he eyed Hound, Bluestreak, Cliffjumper and Red Alert.

'I also trust you enough that I can believe that your friends are worth trusting as well.'

'I wouldn't say that about everyone…' muttered Cliffjumper. The red bot was glaring at Arcee prompting her to take a step away.

'Now as we finally approach victory, I realize that you can't trust me the way I do you.

I believe that in order for you to do so, for us both to fully trust each other, I should show my face.'

Hound and Bluestreak leaned in, in excitement.

Hound watched as the cloaked bot gently pulled up his hood and dropping it against his back.

His helmet was dome shaped. It was obviously polished as light reflected off its round shape. The bots head was primarily a bold cobalt blue while his face was white like any other bots, his collarbone revealed to be white as well as the only part of his now exposed face that wasn't blue or white, were his optics, that were a beady red.

There was another thing that Hound noticed about the bot, something that greatly pleased him, he couldn't recognize his face in the slightest, it wasn't Prowl, It wasn't Megatron and it certainly wasn't Prime, the now uncloaked bot was a complete stranger.

'Hey, you see that Bluestreak? I told you that the bot was going to be a nobody… Bluestreak?'

The black and red bot's optics were widened, Bluestreak's expression was darkened, it was much more reminiscent to an expression Megatron would make- no. Hound couldn't compare it to anything he had seen, Hound had never seen Bluestreak make a face like this, hell most of the time the cheerful bot would be smiling, always cracking jokes or rambling on about things. This was not Bluestreak, this was a ghost, a ghost coming back to haunt the bot he was glaring at.

Bluestreak transformed his arm into an assault rifle and aimed it at the Blue bot.

'Wait Bluestreak what are you-'

Bluestreak opened fire on the bot sending a barrage of laser fire into the bots midsection.

Cliffjumper and Wheeljack grabbed Bluestreak by the arm and pulled the assault rifle out of his socket while Hound and Dogfight tackled him to the ground.

Hound clasped his hands around Bluestreak's face and looked him in the optic.

'Bluestreak what is wrong with you?'

Bluestreak pointed a finger at the blue and white bot who was now sitting on the floor dazing off into space.

'Him… that bastard- he- he destroyed my city** HE DESTROYED PRAXUS!'**

Hound put a hand on the bots chest.

'Bluestreak. Calm down. Praxus was destroyed a long time ago by Decepticons he-'

'I KNOW HE WAS THERE HOUND!'

Hound wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed, but a warm liquid was leaking from Bluestreak's optics and running over Hound's servos. He was crying.

'I dream about that moment every night. I could never forget his face.'

Wheeljack put a hand on the bots shoulder

'Blue… he couldn't have done anything like that, he wasn't-'

'I did.'

The Autobots drew their attention towards the bot sitting at the other side of the elevator.

'Name: Mirage, Occupation: Decepticon Terrorist, Mission Details: In 5/54/345 Decepticon Mirage set a nuclear bomb beneath the city of Praxus. The city was engulfed in seconds, one survivor designated Bluestreak, recruitment failed. Overall mission a success.'

Bluestreak closed his eyes and leaned back.

"_The things we do for the greater good"_

A sad smile curled upon Mirage's lips.

'Yeah… I said things like that back then'

Cliffjumper loaded his assault rifle 'Why don't I put this Decepticon out of his misery.'

Arcee grabbed the smaller bot by the shoulder and pulled him back

'Are you out of your mind?'

'You kidding? Out of all people I'd expect you to agree with me on this one Arcee.'

Arcee crossed her arms 'And what is that supposed to mean?'

'Oh please, every living Autobot knows that you tried to kill Sideswipe, so what Arcee? It's okay to put an Autobot out of his misery and not a Decepticon? I don't know whether to call you a monster or a traitor. At least Brakedown is good at acting on his side, you do a lousy job of hiding that you're a Decepticon.'

'I can't believe you are pulling this on me, this is a completely different matt-'

'Brakedown?' Mirage muttered

'Yeah your mole' spat Cliffjumper

'Our mole's name is Backstreet. Who the Hell is Brakedown?'

'Guys?'

Red Alert was kneeling on the floor next to Clocker

'He's laughing. Why is he laughing.' Red Alert began to breathe faster.

'Damnit!' Wheeljack readied his weapons 'It's a trap, we've been played this whole time!'

The elevator doors opened, instead of a nerve center, the Autobots found themselves staring into the barrels of ten large guns, each one wielded by a heavily armored guard. They stood in a large white room with a large platform near the back.

Standing on top of the platform, smiling, without a wheelchair, was Brakedown.

* * *

_Nemesis_

Thundercracker finished repairing Frenzy and nodded to Flatline who had finished repairing Cyclonus.

The blue seeker laughed out loud when he saw the look on Flatline's face when Slipstream came back with all those wounded, but more importantly, Starscream. Starscream's beaten body was thrown into the containment cell next to Grimlock's who was shackled up in his own cell in stasis lock.

Thundercracker felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around to see Skywarp standing confidently with his hands behind his back.

'So. How did it go?' Asked Thundercracker

'Awesome. We fought a freaking space lizard man, you should have seen it!'

Thundercracker laughed softly and peered around Skywarp's waist.

'What do you have there?'

'Oh!' Skywarp brought his hands forward revealing him to be holding a large metallic wolf-like creature.

'I found him not too far from Grimlock when we kicked his aft, aint he the cutest!'

Skywarp cuddled the wolf as it began to bark.

'I… guess.'

'Yeah anyways I'm thinking about keeping him as a pet, I doubt Slipstream would mind, anyways enough of that, what have you been up to?'

'Oh, well I was thinking about talking to Starscream.'

Skywarp's smile lowered 'Really?'

'Well yeah, I figured I might as well.'

The black seeker sighed. 'Do what you want I guess.'

'Thanks.' Thundercracker shot his companion one last smile before walking towards Starscream's cell.

He nodded at Fireshot and Vanquish to let him in and wandered into the white room.

Starscream was sitting up, he was damaged, and had stasis cuffed around his wrists, but he was awake, and calm.

Just how Thundercracker needed him.

'Shut the door.' He barked.

The minute the door shut behind Thundercracker a smile crept across Starscream's face.

'Well, well, I have to admit I would have expected Megatron to come see me first, but not you, not like this.'

'Cut the crap Screamer'

Thundercracker pulled up a chair and leaned in towards Starscream.

'I need you to do me a favor.'

Starscream's smirk morphed into a look of confusion.

'And what might that be?'

Thundercracker took in a deep breath, after reassuring himself one last time, he said the words.

'I need you to lead the Decepticons again...'

* * *

**AN: So when coming up with a look for the Sparkling, I decided to choose a toy mold. **

**So the toy I picked was Prime Soundwave as you may have guessed, so when imagining the sparkling's body, imagine Prime Soundwave, her head is otherwise something I thought of myself.**


	23. The Ever-Failing One Man Show

**AN: Sorry for the wait! I was incredibly busy during March break and the past week has been dreadfully stressful, I'm glad I got this done though, also. this particular chapter had some of it's dialogue inspired by a song even borrowing from the lyrics on two occasions. The song title will be at the bottom of the page. **

* * *

_Velocitron_

'The plan is stupid, ridiculous!'

Dirtboss violently shook his fists at each of his team mates as they stood around with bored looks on their faces.

'We should just level this city and be done with it.'

The Decepticons stood in the far outskirts of the city where rocks and boulders dotted the sandy landscape. They all stood in a circle as they discussed their .

'I disagree' argued Scrapper 'to me Barricade's plan seems logical enough, we simply compete in this competition, win the title of leader and rule the planet rather then come here to murder the Autobots.'

'Darn it Scrapper just who's side are you on?' spat Dirtboss

Breakdown crossed his arms and sighed 'Yeah sorry Dirt Boss but I've got to say I think Slipstream would reward us a bit more if we were to bring her a conquered planet rather than a destroyed one.'

Motormaster grunted in agreement. 'Then the Stunticons all agree, as for everyone else?'

Roller Force shrugged in agreement while Motorhead raised his hand immediately.

'Oh yes!' said the cheerful Decepticon 'Barricade's plans are always ever so amazing! I completely agree with this one.'

Breakdown stared blankly at the con 'Uh, is that like really bad sarcasm? Or are you… serious?'

Rollerforce shook his head. 'Nah the kid's just a suck up.'

Motorhead frowned at his racing partner 'There's nothing wrong with having a hero is there?'

'I guess not…' Breakdown massaged the back of his neck 'But _Barricade? _He's not exactly hero material if you know what I mean.' He stopped and craned his head around 'say, where _is_ Barricade anyways?'

The group looked over one another, each now under the realization that Barricade was indeed missing.

'Where'd he go?' asked Motormaster

Hook pointed to his left 'I thought I saw him wander behind that boulder over there.'

'YO BARRICADE!' Groundhog shouted in his usual booming voice 'YOU OVER THERE?!'

'Yeah.' Barricade's voice echoed from behind the boulder 'I'm just- I'll be out in a sec.'

Motormaster sighed 'Right, does anyone want to go over there to check on him?'

'Fine.' Dirtboss pointed a finger at Scavenger 'Go check on him.'

The green Constructicon sighed 'Okay.'

Scavenger began to move but was quickly stopped as Motorhead stood in his way.

'Don't, he could be… I don't know, changing his oil back there.'

'YO BARRICADE!' yelled Groundhog 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE? CHANGING OIL?'

'Uh no.' called the black Decepticon 'I'm just… -be out in a second!'

Longhaul groaned and shoved Scavenger 'Go check on him kid.'

Scavenger transformed into his Cybertronian power shovel mode and drove towards the boulder.

As he left, Breakdown smacked Motorhead in the shoulder to get the young bot's attention.

'Yo kid, what made you come to kiss Barricade's feet in the first place?'

Not too far away Scavenger drove behind the boulder

'Hey um Barricade, sorry for interrupting but I- PRIMUS!'

Scavenger transformed to robot mode and readied his blaster.

Barricade's head was split open four ways with his brain module exposed in the middle. Some multi coloured lights emitted from the core.

'Wait!' Barricade's head quickly reattached itself as he raised his hands in defence 'I'm fine Scavenger relax!'

Scavenger transformed his arm back to normal and sighed in relief

'Vector Sigma Barricade you really scared me.'

Barricade approached the Constructicon menacingly before lowering his posture.

'Look Scavenger, can you keep a secret?'

Scavenger blinked in shock 'A secret? Um… Sure! Yeah I can do that.' He spoke sincerely

Barricade took a few steps back and leaned on the large boulder.

'Look I've been having these –god what do you call them- mind… bursts.'

Scavenger rested himself next to Barricade 'I have no idea what you mean'

'Okay here let me just…' he held his forehead 'There have been moments where my mind… it is as if I am thinking of over… of 203,435,583 things at the same time.'

'That-that's uh, pretty specific'

'I know it's specific. It's because I can know this, my brain is working exactly that many times faster than it should be, equations, probabilities and images, god the images I keep seeing them flash on and off every few minutes, whenever this happens my brain module feels like it is on fire.'

'So when you opened your skull-'

'It sort of… helps with the cool down'

'Ah…'

Silence. Scavenger always wanted to please, the possibility of saying or asking something that could offend another bot terrified him.

'Um… sorry for asking but… why don't you want me to tell the others?'

'Because I think one of us is behind it. The other day I told the same thing to Frenzy and almost immediately after, I found him speaking into a communicator.'

'Did you ever consult Flatline about it? It could just be a medical issue.'

'He said there is nothing wrong with me, funny because soon after-'

'You found him talking into a communicator.'

Barricade snapped his fingers 'Exactly, I really don't know why my mind has been doing this but I intend to find out as much as I can.'

'So you know about the glowy lights that you brain projects when your head is split open.'

'Yes- WHAT?!'

Barricade grabbed Scavenger by the neck and slammed him against the boulder

'What do you mean glowy lights?! How do you-?'

'I saw them when your head was split open just now!' Scavenger struggled as his vocalizer croaked 'it's the truth I swear!'

Barricade dropped him 'Tell me.'

'What?'

The black and white bot turned around and automatically split open his skull revealing his brain module

'What does my brain look like?'

Scavenger rubbed his throat with one hand and raised the other in surrender

'Look that's a question I really don't want to answer… (Hard to believe that this is the second time I was ever asked that question.)'

'Just tell me what you see.' replied the speedster as he pointed at his head.

Scavenger sighed 'Alright fine, fine let's just take a peek and- whoa'

'What?! What do you see?'

'Um… well first off your brain is _huge_.'

'Yeah, yeah that's really flattering now-'

'No I mean _seriously_ it is just… wow I'm taking a picture'

'Don't! I mean… how big?'

'It is like…' Scavenger ran a hand over his faceplate in thought 'the Metroplex version of a normal brain module'

Barricade smiled upon hearing about the size of his brain

'Is there anything else? What about those flashing lights, are they there?'

'Yes and no, it turns out that your brain isn't emitting random glowing lights. It's projecting images.'

'Images of what?'

Scavenger took a moment to examine the image in question before speaking.

'Barricade you said you had images flash in your line of sight?'

'Yes.'

'Were any of them of a face?'

'No… why?'

'Because all of these images are of somebody's face.'

Barricade tilted his head to the side

'Really, what does it look like?'

'Erm kind of generic… no faceplate or visor.'

'Any colours?'

'Black and white… and I think there is some red in there but it's hard to say, optics are kind-of big though, the kind that stares into your soul y'know?'

Barricade closed his skull and sighed 'Whatever, thanks anyway Scavenger'

Scavenger wringed his hands together 'Oh it's my pleasure.'

Barricade grinned 'You think they may have already left?'

Scavenger slumped over and sighed 'Probably…'

* * *

_Underground_

'Brakedown!' Cliffjumper shouted in a confused voice, unsure if he should be excited or depressed by the encounter.

'What, what are you doing here… and out of a wheelchair'

Brakedown tilted up his head and laughed a cold croaky laugh sending a chill down Cliffjumper's spinal cord.

'What- what is so-'

'You really are this stupid aren't you?'

'Wh-what?'

Mirage put a hand on the bots shoulder 'Cliffjumper… he lied to you.'

Brakedown pointed a finger at the blue bot

'And quite professionally might I add, not once did any of you stop to think that you were really being manipulated'

'But…' Cliffjumper fell to his knees 'Why?'

Wheeljack raised a hand 'Okay I'm lost what's going on here, and when did Breakdown go from being a Stunticon to an evil old bot.'

'Same name, different bot' answered Mirage

'Ah and Mirage' Brakedown addressed the bot like an old friend 'I see your evil efforts to destroy peace on this planet is –yet again- ending in failure.'

'You think all this is a failure?' Mirage grabbed his wound and took a step forward prompting the guards to take aim. 'We're all still alive Brakedown, and sooner or later Windcharger and the others will break in to save us.'

'Hilarious'

'What?'

Brakedown's smile widened 'Activate your com channel.'

'What?'

He pointed at the blue bot's waist 'Your communicator has been flashing for the past 7 minutes.'

Mirage hesitated before reaching for his belt and bringing the communicator to his audio receptor.

'Hello?'

'_Boss!'_

'Windcharger?'

'_Boss! Vector Sigma I've been trying to call you for-'_

'Relax, what is it?'

The tone in Windcharger's voice made Mirage's spark sink

'_They're dead, all dead, Piston… Greasemonkey… Speedrace… Blurr and I were the only ones to escape alive, Jesus Mirage why didn't you say anyth-'_

The com was replaced with static.

'Windcharger!'

'A damn shame' Brakedown taunted 'Well I really should thank you, not only is your pathetic lackey going to lead us to your base of operations, but you also brought your mole to light, Backstreet will be dealt with shortly.'

'So now what?' Grotusque pushed his way to the front 'Are you going to explain your master plan to us?'

Brakedown chuckled softly 'There's no need. I'm sure Mirage explained the most of it, we simply escaped the war and eliminated the inferiorities of our race; the exact cause of our war in the first place.'

Brakedown leapt off the platform and walked towards the group.

'But of course you all must be wondering where we get all this Energon? The planet isn't even all that populated given how few cities we have… of course they are very well lit cities.'

'Yeah, yeah we get it' said Wheeljack 'You have some nice light bulbs so what?'

'Energon…' Brakedown ignored the engineer 'This planet has none; fortunately I had trained under a genius during my years on Cybertron. He had created a machine that could leech the Energon from another being and make it consumable again. His name was Shockwave.'

Arcee shut her optics '…No.'

'Yes. Now I manag-' he stopped himself 'Clocker! I nearly forgot, I need to congratulate you, now come here.'

Two guards lifted up the wounded Velocitronian and brought him to Brakedown

'As I was saying his product never came to light as it involved killing the subject, of course that never stopped me.'

Clocker was brought next to him

'Aerialbots, tanks, beasts… I really am thankful for them, because once killed…'

Brakedown transformed his arm into a blender-like tool, the same one Shockwave had used on the Insecticons. The tool began to slowly expand as it scanned Clocker; several long blades reached out from the tool and began slowly tearing into the blue and red torturer a large sack at the end of the tool began to slowly fill with the Velocitroian's Energon.

'They become our fuel.'

* * *

_Outside the Velocitronian Circuit_

Hotshot walked next to Override, neither wanted to speak and neither would look at each other - or drive for that matter. They walked away from the large stadium in a silence that lasted for what felt like an hour. It was 5 minutes.

'So uh…'

Override didn't reply

'Look I'm sorry I said those things to you, -I mean- I meant what I said, I was telling the truth, but I understand that whatever I say won't change your mind on the subject, I mean to be honest it would probably be too much for you to take in all at-'

'I believe you.'

'-once but with the Decepticons here your leaders will be the least of our pr- what?'

They stopped walking, both still looking forward

'I believed every word you said.'

Hotshot span around and faced Override in shock

'You do? But- why? How?'

Override made her way to the edge of the highway and sat down crossed legged

'Override…' Hotshot made his way towards her as she started speaking

'It was a very long time ago…

Back when I was a younger- still in my early 900,s I was babied by others due to my impressive vehicular mode and speed, I was constantly told that I was destined to lead and that my ancestors were in a long bloodline of royalty. I believed it for a while, but things became clearer once I stopped taking the medications they kept forcing down my throat, it kept me more awake, awake when they spoke of the tortures, awake when they spoke of the assasinations, awake when they spoke of killing me…'

She held her head in her hands and rubbed her temples 'I knew I wasn't special Hotshot, that I am not really royalty – hell, they've probably said that to every leader before me – But when you told me, when someone told me the truth… I think I came to know what to do.'

Hotshot sat himself next to her 'But why did you deny me when I told you before.'

She forced a soft chuckle and smiled 'I guess I liked this little fantasy of a life so much – that I didn't want to believe it to be false.'

The two bots remained in silence yet again, neither spoke to each other, neither look at each other, they just sat.

After a number of minutes Hotshot's communicator rang, grabbing it from his belt, Hotshot read the words on the screen and pressed a button.

'It's a video message.' He said to Override

The screen lit up and several pieces of footage featuring the inside of the underground prison were projected. Among the footage was a black and gold bot addressing the camera.

'…_because once they're killed'_

The footage showed the black and gold bot lifting up a damaged one and shoving them into a a large destructive tool, destroying the damaged bot and leeching his Energon

' _they become our fuel'_

Hotshot leapt up

'Primus this- this is it!'

Override stood up with him 'Please tell me we are both thinking the same thing.'

Hotshot snapped his fingers 'That my friends are in danger, and that we have to rescue them.'

Override rubbed the back of her head 'Well actually I was thinking we could use this video evidence as proof and show the world the truth.'

'Oh' Hotshot looked away 'That too.'

The Velocitronian grabbed Hotshot's arm 'We can save your friends too, after all we owe them for filming this, but for now we need to focus, how are we going to show this to the world?'

Hotshot raised a hand to his head and rubbed his temple. 'Well… we will need to broadcast it… and on a big screen…' He snapped his fingers 'Of course! The coronation race, if we manage to project the video on the big screen projector, then it will be broadcasted across the planet!'

'Works but there is just one problem.'

Hotshot slumped 'Uh oh'

'The only way we can get to the screen is by getting up on the main stage right beneath the screen.'

Hotshot span himself around 'Alright, and what makes that a problem'

'Only the winner can step onto the stage to win their prize.'

'Oh… god don't tell me.'

Override lowered her expression 'We can't get on the stage unless we win the coronation race, otherwise we will be taken to the prison.'

Hotshot rubbed his optics '… it always has to be a race on this planet… doesn't it?'

* * *

_The Nemesis: containment room_

The two Seekers sat staring at each other; a legitimate look of shock came on Starscream's face as he tried to think of the proper way to react. With a huff, Thundercracker leaned in again.

'I need you to lead the Dec-'

'I heard you!' Starscream snapped

Lowering his head the Seeker breathed heavily

'Starscream-'

'A chair!'

Thundercracker frowned 'What?'

'if we are to discuss such a… _delicate _subject, then I would prefer to be in the same condition as you, so either tie _yourself _up and sit on the floor –or- you get me a chair, then we can talk.'

Thundercracker shrugged and made his way to the clear plexiglass window that connected the room with the med bay to signal Vanquish to lower the blinds. In a moment several metal panels came down from the ceiling and covered the window leaving no way of seeing what was going on inside. Thundercracker proceeded to the other side of the room and pulled out a second chair before unhooking Starscream's stasis cuffs.

'Thank you' Starscream stretched his body and flopped onto the chair with one leg over the other while holding his hands behind his head.'

'Now then…' Thundercracker sat in the chair opposite to Starscream. 'I suppose the best way to explain myself is to start at the beginning. After we went through the portal, some… things happened, disturbing things'

'Oh please, what happened to me on Cybertron…' Starscream chuckled 'I guarantee was more disturbing than what happened here, there was Shockwave, and Dinobots, and machines that leeched Energon and… and Bruticus! Bruticus and he had his cogs missing!'

Thundercracker cleared his throat 'During our assault on the Ark, The fliers were forced to retreat leaving the ground based Decepticons on board, they were kept prisoner in the Ark for a about a week or so until we eventually freed them. Slipstream came and took leadership due to our lack of high command, and did a pretty good job of it at first, I told Dirge about Sparkmeal psychology and he punched me in the face… Anyways we attacked the Ark and freed our ground force killing dozens of Autobots in the process. Then Slipstream offered them to surrender but they decided not to accept so we gave it our all, a few escape pods and the medical facility were ejected but were soon destroyed in an explosion leaving Jetfire as the only one alive, we recruited Jetfire and well… things were pretty all right. Then we found out the explosion that "destroyed" the pods and the med bay was in reality a hologram projected by one of the Autobots in order to allow them to escape. We dropped by the planet they had stopped on and recruited a ton of missing Decepticons called the Predacons adding to our army.'

'In which Grimlock and I had boarded the Nemesis'

'Yes, but after that, Slipstream had made a speech and…'

'and?'

Thundercracker shook for a moment

'She went through the budding process…'

Starscream stared at Thundercracker plainly before leaping out of his seat

'What?!'

Thundercracker nodded solemnly 'She budded two Sparklings, one died, the other is already fully grown.'

'Already? But how long-'

'two days, I know there is definitely something wrong here but that isn't all you see.'

He leaned in 'I told a story to Dirge and the others- a _true _story

'What story?'

'Our story during the Novacon war, with the leader, and the… the death.'

Starscream sat back down.

'I… remember.'

'I know you don't _like_ to remember it, that war tarnished your reputation'

Starscream nodded

'But that isn't all, the Novacons… they scarred you didn't they?'

'THEY WERE MONSTERS!'

Thundercracker flinched as the Air commander screamed

'14 hours…' he spoke softer '14 hours a Novacon spent staring at me, never blinking… It wasn't until the Autobots came did he leave.'

'But Starscream, after the leader's death…'

'All the Novacons committed a mass suicide I know, I was there, but not this one, this one chose to stay.'

Starscream shook his head 'Why are we even talking about this? What does you telling a story have to do with anything.'

'Because as of late, we have found out that someone on board isn't who they say they are.'

Starscream nodded at him to continue

'Someone is broadcasting our location to someone, someone dangerous.'

Starscream placed his head in his hands and sighed 'Don't tell me…'

'Soundwave has tracked the signal; we know who it is being sent to…'

'no…'

'It is being sent to the Novacon Leader… he's still alive.'

* * *

_Windcharger and Blurr's position_

'God Blurr what do we do?'

'Idontknow.'

'What is our next step?'

'Idon'tknow!'

The two damaged bots made their way through the crowded streets and towards the bar which they called home.

'Well you're the second in command _and _the fastest racer here, isn't there anything we can do to help them?'

'Ifwegobacktherewewillbekille daswell, besidesusallthat'sleftareSwerveandJazz.'

Windcharger stopped at the entrance to the bar and leaned on his shoulder

'God Blurr… do you think we should… leave?'

Blurr stared at the ground, a fearful look coming across his face.

'I-Idon't… I don't know.'

Windcharger stood up straight and sighed 'Let's tell Swerve, I'll set up the escape ship so we can- Blurr.'

'Whatwhatisit?'

Windcharger pointed across the street where a yellow racer walked towards them, a sleek purple Decepticon symbol stamped neatly on to his chest.

Blurr took a step forward and began to shake.

'Dr-dr-dr-dr. Dragstrip.'

The Decepticon calmly walked up to Blurr until they were face to face

'Hello friend.'

Windcharger raised his battle pistol 'You know this guy Blurr?'

'YesIknowIknow…I…know him.'

Blurr's voice began to slow down with every word that escaped his mouth. He slapped Windcharger's pistol out of his hand and moved back to the Stunticon, his voice lower and calmer.

'What are you doing here Dragstrip?'

The yellow bot placed his hands behind his head 'To be perfectly honest, to kill you.'

'I assume you will carry this out?'

'We'll see, anyways I should have you know that the coronation races will be taking place not too long from now.'

'And? Let me guess, you will be attending it?'

'Of course'

Blurr rubbed his brow 'Dragstrip, before you joined the Decepticons you were one of our top racers, you know fully well what happens when you win.'

Dragstrip curled his lip in disgust 'This is why I never liked you Blurr, you never did understand the values of winning, the minute we are brought into command we can take control from the leader.'

Blurr clenched his fists, resisting the urge to attack the Decepticon.

'So that's it then, you're going to win this race just to kill the leader, what makes you think you'll win at all.'

Dragstrip turned around and chuckled to himself 'The only one I've ever lost to is you, otherwise no one can beat me. But just to be sure.'

Dragstrip span around and aimed a Nucleon charged rifle at Blurr's legs, he fired three shots one missed and hit the ground next to Blurr's feet, the next two hit both of Blurr's leg's respectively.

The Blue bot screamed as he fell to his knees grabbing for the wound at his joint.

'Blurr!' Windcharger aimed his pistol only for a fourth shot to tear through his wrist, snapping his hand clean off.

'You are irrelevant in this' Dragstrip spat as he fired several more shots at Blurr's legs until they too snapped off of his torso. Civilians screamed after witnessing the brutality and soon enough, Dragstrip was making his leave.

'Without you I won't have any competition to worry about.'

Soon enough Dragstrip had disappeared into the crowd leaving Blurr to leak with Windcharger.

* * *

_Underground Bar: Medical facility_

A loud voice sang throughout the headquarters, it was something he liked to do whenever he was alone, of course technically he wasn't alone as there was someone lying on the recharge slab next to him.

'_If you had the courage to stop me from turning into what would be... the worst in everybody's eyes~'_

He tapped at the life monitor and shrugged '_hey I'm no hero or the devil of your conscious to tell you who to be… good bad ugly or otherwise~'_

Moving over to the recharge slab, Swerve lightly knocked at Jazz's wound to see if it was still stable and continued to sing.

'_If you had good common sense your choices would be gleaming flawless. I want no part in this self-deprecating worthless chemistry~'_

Swerve could hear a loud banging sound echo from above and raised his head.

'Hm… _Don't walk away, don't walk away from me… cause this is our war… Oh you think they've had it all… while you were left with nothing. Oh, oh you've taken the fall… for them to walk all over~'_

The minibot turned around and began reaching for a cabinet placed on a high shelf

'_Oh we've got you by the throat, haha! Oh you wannabe~_

Swerve began to grumble to himself as he pulled over a chair to give himself a boost for the cabinet

'You know I'm not sure why we put cabinets up this high up, I mean I guess you could say people wouldn't trust me with this stuff but… anyways you like my singing Meister?' he spoke addressing Jazz while still reaching for the cabinet 'I remember when you used to lead us you always liked listening to music, although I think we disagreed on it, I mean me, I'm the kind of guy who sings a song that I think is catchy, that's me, don't really care too much for lyrics, you on the other hand, you always told me lyrics are most important. Me? I say whatever.'

Swerve jumped and grabbed the cabinet's handle pulling it open. He reached into it and pulled out a massive nucleon shock cannon.

'Now if you don't mind I think I'm going to see who the intruder is, personally I'm scared out of my wits but somehow carrying around a massive gun makes it all the better. Eh Ja-'

Swerve turned back to the recharge slab and dropped the shock cannon.

Jazz was gone. The recharge slab he was laying on was unoccupied and looked as if it was brand new, as if he was never there to begin with.

'Meister?'

Swerve brought his hands to his head 'Oh – oh no… I – I evaporated him! I thought just tapping the wound wouldn't hurt but I didn't think that _this _would happen.'

The vac lift sounded as its doors opened.

'Shoot, I forgot about the intruder.'

Swerve picked up his shock cannon and exited the empty medical facility.

He leaped into the main corridor to see Windcharger carrying a legless Blurr with one arm.

'Windcharger?'

'Swerve we need help, the Decepticons are going to cause total chaos and the others have been captured, we need to resuscitate the Meiste- I mean Jazz.'

'Well yeah problem with that…'

'What? What is it?'

'Well…' Swerve stared at the ceiling, he was left speechless.

* * *

_The Nemesis: containment room _

Starscream stared at his former flying partner in shock. His expression soon changed into a scowl as he jabbed a finger at the Seeker

'Don't say his name!'

'I didn't.'

'I know, but don't. We are never to say the name of the Novacon leader ever again, it is an oath.'

Thundercracker raised his hands calmingly

'Relax, I just need to ask- are you the one broadcasting our signal?'

'No!'

Thundercracker leaned back and crossed his arms, taking a moment to observe Starscream's face before feeling somewhat relieved.

'You're telling the truth…'

'Of course I am! I hate the Novacons, besides I've been on Cybertron for the past week, there's no way I could have possibly-'

Thundercracker raised a hand to silence him 'Thank you, now I have accomplished my task of being here.'

Starscream blinked 'What? But what about when you said you needed me to lead-'

'Well the Novacon info is what I am _supposed _to be here for, we had assumed that you were the one broadcasting our signal and we needed to find out.'

'Then what-'

'Why I really volunteered to "interrogate you" is because I need you to take leadership from Slipstream.'

Starscream let out a nervous chuckle 'Well first off, who are you and what have you done with Thundercracker; because he would _never _ask me to become leader, and second why me? What makes you think I should take charge, why not do it yourself. Besides, you hate me.'

Thundercracker remained silent. A sly smile crept across Starscream's face.

'Ah now I get it, I don't believe you ever told me that you hate me have you? I honestly don't think I've ever heard you say it?'

The blue seeker frowned

'Tell me Thundercracker, do you hate me?'

Thundercracker took in a breath and stood up. He stood motionless as he looked down at his former squad commander.

'No… wait… yes. I hate you, I hate the fact that we were born from the same production line, I hate that you see yourself as the pinnacle of all things, I hate that we even look alike, I hate that I am constantly being confused with you, I hate that Megatron thought so highly of you-'

'He did?'

'Why the hell else would he make you second in command? I hate the way you execute prisoners, I hate the way you won't listen- TO A GODDAMN THING I SAY!'

Thundercracker took a deep breath and calmed himself 'And I hate your guts. So yes, I hate you Starscream, but before you ask, the reason I need you to become leader again is because you are the only one that can, I can't do it because I won't be taken seriously enough for anyone to follow me, and the others will tell on me if I prompt them to do it, which is why I need you, treacherous, dangerous… _you_. To take command.'

Starscream cackled and brought a hand to his face 'You still didn't answer the question Thundercracker.'

The blue seeker dropped back into his chair and waited for a follow up.

'You answered why you want _me _to take command, but not _why _you want me to take command, funny how the same sentence can mean two completely different things.'

'I wouldn't say completely but… okay. You see not long ago Jetfire found out that the Autobots were alive and escaped'

'Ah and how exactly did he do that on a ship filled with Decepticons?'

'Well. I went after him myself.'

'And you failed'

Thundercracker looked to the side in embarrassment

'I nearly succeeded, but he… got the upper hand on me.'

Starscream's grin expanded as his low chuckle broke into laughter.

'What? What's so funny?'

Starscream tried to calm himself down but kept laughing regardless.

'Oh hah… it's just… heheh… you are such a failure Thundercracker… Only now, at this moment, in this room have I realized that.'

'…'

'You were basically the worst in our flight squadron during the Novacon war; you survived that with sheer luck, if it wasn't for Silverbolt's codes-'

Starscream stopped himself and covered his mouth

'This room is soundproof remember? nobody else knows that the codes exist except you, me , Skywarp, Silverbolt, Jetfire and Slipstream.'

Starscream mouthed an "Ah" and grinned 'but of course, now where was I? Ah yes and your scientific research meant nothing to anything we ever did, a way to turn Dark Energon into medicine? That was never going to work and you spent years on it anyway, hell it's no wonder Megatron promoted me over you and that idiot Skywarp.'

'Shut up.'

'He saw my talents, and left you at the bottom of the food chain with the other grunts. But you know, despite all this I really did think you had some hidden talent in you, now I know that those thoughts were false. You fail at stopping one Autobot and you like to act special because your girlfriend is leading us'

'…She isn't my-'

'And now when you have the _slightest _sense of direction, you come to big brother Starscream for help, you say you hate me Thundercracker? Well I am sure as hell glad that I'm not you. Hell, I would change my self-destruct suicide code to "I want to be Thundercracker" had Silverbolt's codes not implanted a worm to disable our ability to in order to keep the codes alive.'

'…'

Starscream shook his head in disappointment 'Look at you Thundercracker, nothing but a glitchy sparkling grasping for attention, why don't you grow up for once and look in a mirror. You think you're more intelligent than everyone else just because you spend all your time brooding to yourself, it gets old brother, you are just a circus act, there for everyone to point and laugh at.'

'Stop it…'

Starscream leaped out of seat and held out his arms

'Look at this! this is exactly where you should be, in a glass container for the world to see and make fun at. Come on now let's get these blinds out of the way.'

'Shut up.'

Starscream twirled around the room as he sang

'Welcome all… to the ever – lasting all time low!'

'Stop this.'

'Please put your hands together! For the ever – failing one man show!'

'…'

'…Thundercracker!'

He stood up.

'Oh don't you walk away brother you just _must _stay and fulfill your life role as the biggest failure in the Decepticon army!'

Before either of them knew it, Thundercracker's hands were around Starscream's throat. Starscream merely grinned and began to kick Thundercracker in the chest. His expression soon turned into a shock of horror as Thundercracker made no reaction. Pulling him to the ground he choked harder until it didn't seem enough.

Thundercracker let go with one armed and clenched his hand into a fist. He screamed as he punched Starscream continuously in the face. A loud clanging sound echoed throughout the room with every hit.

CLANG

'Who the HELL are you to say that about ME!'

CLANG

'DON'T YOU EVER CALL SKYWARP AN IDIOT AGAIN!'

CLANG

'WHY WON'T YOU JUST GET OUT OF EVERYBODY'S LIVES?!'

CLANG

'…please… please sto-'

CLANG

'YOU DON'T DESERVE MERCY!'

CLANG

'YOU!'

CLANG

'DON'T!'

CLANG

'DESERVE!'

CRUNCH

'TO LIVE!'

CRUNCH

'_AT ALL!'_

* * *

_Area Unkown: Outside of universal boundaries_

**This is terrible.**

**What?**

**It's Decepticon Thundercracker, he is becoming… more.**

**And that means… what?**

**Ever since he found the key he has been doing things that he was never supposed to do.**

**And that's bad right?**

**Yes, maybe, we can only see for ourselves**

**Well… Shit**

* * *

_Nemesis_

Thundercracker panted as he felt his spark flare in his chest. He looked down at his hands and watched as Starscream's purple viscera ran down his blunted fingertips and into his palm. He looked at the air commander and felt a wave of satisfaction overcome him. He had nearly torn off all of Starscream's face with his fists, minus the jaw which was still barely attached. Starscream was almost unrecognizable as his sly grin was replaced with a cracked metallic skull with a round optic drooping out the side of their socket loosely connected by a strand of wire. Thundercracker was almost frightened when this new face spoke to him.

'please… I'm…kaff… I'm sorry… Thundercra- crack… I did not mean what I sa-'

Thundercracker had realized what he had done, he had become the Megatron to Starscream, He had finally shown his dominance over his lifelong partner and adversary.

'Now what did you say about me being useless'

The oily skeleton began to panic 'Please… I… I just….'

'You meant every word.' The blue seeker sat back in his chair and looked down upon Starscream.

'The reason why I need someone to take command is because soon after I had failed to terminate Jetfire, I had stumbled upon a secret. There was a body in a broom closet; it could have been missed by anyone but… I peered inside and Slipstream was in there. Dead. She had been there for weeks. I know what you're thinking; you just saw Slipstream alive and well. Obviously that isn't Slipstream, we have an imposter posing as our leader and what I want is to take this imposter out and reveal her identity. Have I thought of just showing the crew the body? Yes, why didn't I? Because I know that if I come in with Slipstream's corpse it will cause chaos, and frankly we have enough of that going on already, I want this to be quick and quiet, we question the imposter, and _then we _tell the crew. I know I can trust you because no matter whom you would try to blab to, no one will ever believe you.'

He got up and straightened the chairs. 'Meet with me at my quarters once you are repaired, we will go over the operation then.'

Thundercracker knocked on the door twice and Slipstream opened it excitedly

'So? What did he say?' she was practically acting like a child as she jumped up in down.

'He isn't broadcasting our location to the Novacon Leader, I'm sorry we still have a mole on board.'

The Decepticons all groaned in unison

The recently repaired Demolishor approached the leader cautiously.

'Well… what about Grimlock, he must be the one then right…?'

Demolishor sighed 'I searched him and as it turns out… he's clean, no broadcasting equipment at all.

Slipstream rubbed her forehead and sighed

'Son of a bit-'

* * *

_Velocitron_

The ten Autobots were all shackled on to a large metal obelisk each. They wanted to speak, to object, but they were all too busy being devoured by their ghosts. The feelings of betrayal, disappointment, and anger was felt throughout the minds of the ten bots.

Brakedown was on the other side of the room working on a large monitor, humming softly.

'What are you going to do?' called Grotusque 'Why don't you just kill us first? After all that is the point of this hell hole isn't it?'

'To kill you? yes, to kill your superior friends? No. While we have to waste you and your friends Dogfight and Pincher, The majority of you would be a huge waste to just throw away.'

'What does that mean?' asked Arcee sternly

'That you are all perfect specimens of course. You see the one thing we use to control the pawns of this planet is the exact thing we use to broadcast our glory. Television. It's amazing how you can control the mind with such a simple instrument.'

Cliffjumper struggled in his shackles, pulling on the several electric chains that held his body to the obelisk.

'What does that have to do with anything you monst-'

'My boy it has to do with _everything _by projecting the right images I can convert every single one of you into assimilating to our order.'

'I'd like to see you try' replied Dogfight 'So tell us, what will we be watching then?'

Brakedown grinned and flicked a switch. The giant monitor lit up and the Velocitronian circuit appeared on the screen.'

'We are going to watch the races of course, Oh, the races, and your friend getting murdered too.'

* * *

_The Velocitron Circuit _

Hotshot rolled up to the starting point where Override met with him.

'You ready for this?' he asked

'I think I've been ready for this my whole life to be honest.'

Soon enough ten vehicles with purple insignias rolled up next to them.

'Hello friends' greeted Motormaster

The two bots remained silent as the speaker screeched.

'_Greetings lady and gentleman, welcome to the greatest show on Speed Planet; The coronation races!'_

The crowd of thousands all broke into applause.

'_This is Circuit with your coverage on the races and it appears we have some newcomers participating'_

Dragstrip huffed.

'_Now without further ado let us skip to race! Racers, start your engines…'_

Hotshot took a moment to think about Jazz.

'_Get ready to roll… in 5…'_

Barricade felt his mind burning again.

'_4…'_

On one of the racing arches, the Constructicons - minus Dirtboss - readied their blasters.

'_3…'_

Underground, Mirage whispered an apology

'_2…'_

Far, far away, on the Nemesis, Thundercracker felt a chill run down his spine as he thought about the plan.

'_1…' _

Dirtboss activated his power thrusters in his forklift mode.

'_GO!'_

In a flash, all of the racers boosted down the track, in the lead was Override, as usual, with Hotshot close behind. Approaching them with an incredible amount of speed were Motormaster and the Stunticons.

'Hey Barricade!' Motorhead called excitedly 'Can you see me? I'm 8th place! Only one place after you!'

'Shut up kid, I'm trying to focus.'

'Out of the way aftholes!' Motormaster yelled as he literally came crashing through the competition by ramming innocent racers off the road. 'Hahah this road's only got room for one king!'

'Damn it' Hotshot drove next to Override 'He's wounding racers isn't that like… a penalty or something.'

'We've actually come to allow roughness in races, it brings in the ratings…'

Suddenly Dirtboss came boosting between them in his forklift mode, passing them and gaining the lead.

'What the-?' Hotshot drifted around the next turn 'How does a forklift move so fast?!'

'I don't know, but-'

Two vehicles approached Override on either side of her before she could finish her sentence; one was a large black and green three wheeled truck while the other was a small red motorcycle with gold highlights.

'Hey there beautiful, remember us?'

'Oh frag.'

'Override? Who are these guys?'

The green one activated his thrusters

'The ones who are going to win that title!'

The two of them boosted ahead of the two bots.

'They're my competitors, Hotshot, we can't let them win or else- Hotshot look out!'

A red targeting dot on Hotshot's hood prompted him to transform and leap into the air, the shot missed Hotshot and landed on Dragstrip's wheels sending the Stunticon screeching to a halt. Hotshot landed firmly on the raceway and transformed back into his vehicle mode.

Dragstrip transformed and raised a finger to his Audio receptor in anger 'Scrapper! What the hell is going on over there, you're supposed to be shooting the Autobots not us!'

'_It wasn't us, I'm serious. The shot came from the crowd.'_

'What?' Dragstrip scanned the crowd of cheering bots and spotted a civilian hiding a sniper rifle at his belt

'Motormaster!' he called ahead 'This race is rigged; they are trying to make us lose!'

'What?!' Motormaster transformed into robot mode and raised his hand signalling the others to do so as well 'Decepticons, we are being cheated.'

Soon enough Wildrider, Breakdown, Dead end, Barricade, Motorhead, Rollerforce and Groundhog all transformed and readied their guns. An orange guard riding a sky sled hovered down and pointed a finger at them.

'Finish the race, or else I will have to-'

Motormaster fired a round into the enforcer's chest sending him falling off of his sky sled and onto the road below where he leaked.

As the crowd screamed in realization, several more guards came down on sky sleds wielding sniper rifles.

'This is your last warning, turn yourself in or-'

The nine Decepticons opened fire on the guards blowing each of their heads off, a swarm of more guards began storming onto the track and began opening fire.

Motormaster lifted two guards into the air with both arms, he strangled a guard in one and crushed the head of the other while Wildrider leapt onto their backs and proceeded to stab them with an Energon blade. Breakdown had every one of his senses at full capacity as he managed to dodge the enemy's fire flawlessly. The Constructicons began dropping in from above and started opening fire on the civilians with the hope of taking out an assassin while they were at it.

Hotshot transformed to his robot mode prompting Override to brake.

'I'll cover you, go.'

'But you can't-'

'I can, you're already in fourth place, just go!'

Override sighed and revved her engine.

'Be safe okay?'

He nodded

Override activated her nitro boost and shot down the highway like a speeding bullet.

Hotshot readied his path blaster and charged for the guards, fighting alongside Barricade and Rollerforce, he began to unload all he had into the enforcers. He could tell that they weren't combat experienced as their aim was off and they kept rushing them, assuming that they would survive, he remembered when he used to be the same way, but hundreds of years of war changed that.

Rollerforce nodded at Hotshot as he blasted another enforcer with his riot cannon.

'So what is this, some kind of alliance to eliminate a common foe?'

Hotshot unsheathed his Energon blade and sliced into a guards mid-torso

'I had hoped so.'

Shooting down a sky sled, Barricade rubbed his cranium and took cover

'Works for me, so long as we get this done we can focus on _our _war after'

Rollerforce grinned 'Actually I think this is a perfect chance Barricade.'

'For what?'

'When are we going to have a better moment…'

Rollerforce fired a round into Hotshot's back sending him flying onto the curb of the road.

'than this to terminate an Autobot?'

Hotshot tried to stand but felt a shot of pain run through his spine.

The Decepticon approached Hotshot and aimed the barrel of his gun at the back of Hotshot's head.

'Well then, normally I would ask if you had any last words but then again it would probably be something unoriginal like 'till all are one' or some crap like that, so I'm just going to kill you and be done with i-'

Rollerforce's head exploded into a shower of flames.

'Rollerforce!' Barricade screamed as the Decepticon's body hit the ground

The Decepticon had been shot by a sniper bullet that left a trail of smoke leading to the barrel of a gun.

A smile crept upon Hotshot's face as he observed the shooter.

'Took you long enough.'

'Heh, come now I had to at least _try _to make a dramatic entrance.'

Standing in front of him were Swerve, Backstreet and Windcharger with a familiar face standing in front of them. Jazz was, armed to the teeth with gatling guns on his shoulders and a large sniper rifle in his hand with a tube running from the back of the gun to his spine where an Energon recharger operated. He was heavily armored with thick metal plating covering nearly his entire body making him twice as large as he once was.

'Now why don't we stop doing this with Decepticons and start doing it with style?

* * *

**AN: The song for this chapter -also being the song that Swerve sings- is Key Entity Extraction l: Domino the Destitute by Coheed and Ca****mbria**

**The song and it's lyrics belong to Claudio Sanchez and his band.**

**I do no own either.**


	24. Burned Part I

**AN: So apparently talking about things in your life before and/or after a chapter is in the now. In reality I have been going through some things right now, I thought I was stressed a week ago but things have been in the toilet for me lately. I would have expected this to lead to writers block but in reality this has really helped with me overcoming some things. I have also noticed that the mood I set for certain chapters usually reflect how I am feeling in real life, I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing to be honest. Anyway enough of my cliche angsting lets get to business. **

**Just like with _Survival of the Fittest _This will be another two parter, followed by an epilogue. Whether it will lead to a surprise ending like last time I can't say but after I post the Speed planet epilogue I think I will take a small break in order to try some other things. I have another one shot for IDW's mtmte planned as well as a Prime one shot that I have had planned for a while. But first lets get these next few chapters done and dusted. So without further ado...**

* * *

Hotshot eagerly rushed up to Jazz, wrapping his hand around him in excitement.

'Jazz! You're alive!' Hotshot observed Jazz's new armor enviously 'And bigger.'

Jazz grinned and stretched his arms 'I managed to crawl away from my slab and find my old racing body and equipment that I had used back when I was a racer here.' He lifted up the Gatling guns on his shoulder and chuckled 'With some added armaments of course.'

'The guy scared the bejeebers out of me when he snuck up behind me after Windcharger brought Blurr back.' Admitted Swerve

'Bastards!' Barricade stood clutching his fists until they left dents in the palms in his hands 'Rollerforce, you just killed Rollerforce.'

Jazz ejected a clip and moved towards the black bot. 'to be fair your "Rollerforce" was about to kill my friend here. Believe me when I say I didn't want it to come to this.'

'You did…' Barricade muttered before transforming and driving back to the raging Stunticons.

Windcharger approached Jazz with an assault rifle draped over his shoulder.

'So Meister… I mean Jazz, what is our next plan of attack.'

'You and Swerve will hold the line here, fight off the guards and be sure that the Decepticons don't kill any civilians.'

'Got it'

'Hotshot and I will go find our friends' he continued 'You said that they should be held prisoner beneath the great hall correct?'

Windcharger nodded 'I'd hurry if I was you, we don't have much time to talk at the moment as you can tell.'

Jazz observed the Stunticons and Constructicons yell in rage as they tore through the heavily armored swat teams that kept flooding in. Grimacing, the Decepticons used a blend of brute power and heavy weapons to slaughter the waves of guards from both the bleachers, and the track.

'Understood, Hotshot let's roll.'

Jazz transformed into his newly armored sports car mode now equipped with two massive thrusters located under his spoiler.

Hotshot whirred his conversion cog to change shape but stopped as Windcharger's hand touched his shoulder.

'Hey bud, just hold on for a sec'

'What? Didn't you just say that we shouldn't be wasting time?'

Windcharger groaned for half a micro 'Which is why you should let me finish this sentence before you get shot, now just hold on a sec and hold out your hand.'

Hotshot offered his hand cautiously while Jazz revved his engines for them to move. Grabbing his hand, Windcharger shut his optic lids and began to vibrate his arm. The quick vibrations transferred to Hotshot leaving a light buzzing noise in the back of his endo-skull causing the bot to pull his hand away.

'Ah…what was-'

'I transferred some of my power to you; you should now be able to use magnetic abilities for about 7.69 seconds. Be sure to use it well, you'll need it.'

Hotshot nodded in thanks before transforming into his sports car mode. In moments the two Autobots were kilometres away.

Windcharger cocked his rifle and grinned smugly.

'Alright, you ready for this Swerve?'

Swerve laughed nervously as he steadied his scatter blaster 'Nnnope.'

'Brilliant…'

Windcharger walked forward into the chaos, kicking aside the severed head of a Velocitronian.

'Well Swerve it's been an honour working with you.'

Swerve followed close behind 'Aw, don't say that, people always die right after they say that.'

'Yeah well I always lie whenever I say that.'

'What?'

'What? Whatever, let's just kick aft'

'That... I can agree on.'

Jazz and Hotshot drove down the race track and away from the main riot, with Hotshot only barely keeping up, Jazz was much faster than he was before, was it the armor, or was he just more familiar with racing than he gave him credit for; Hotshot did not know.

As the two drove down the silver track passing the now empty bleachers Hotshot spoke up.

'Meister.'

The sound of his engine was the only sound Jazz made in response

'Back there Windcharger called you Meister, Mirage also told us that their old founder was also named Meister. So _Meister, _spill, what is your history here, it's about time you told me.'

Jazz shook in his vehicle mode. 'Alright this is how it began…

Long during the early days in the war a lot of us were fed up, racers like me an' Mirage especially. We raced together on Velocitron while it was only a sporting company, it was something I did while being a part time cop with the likes of Orion Pax and Prowl and well… it was great and I was great at it. Mirage on the other hand was a rich playboy who spent his money into racing along with a lot of other things like turbo fox hunting and golfing and the other posh expenditures. Most people didn't like him for his high status and his polished exterior so I guess I felt bad for the poor sucker, we hung out for a while but when Velocitron was up and gone from the planet we sort of just drifted apart. After a decade of nonstop war and seeing my friends die in front of me I just couldn't keep up with all the pointless fighting, so I abandoned my post as a low leveled grunt and ran off to the circle of light with Prowl and Mirage. It turned out that Mirage was a Decepticon who had decided to leave after being forced to bomb Praxus.'

'You mean-'

'Bluestreak's home town, yes, Mirage was sick of all the killing, and the deception and - and the death and put on a hooded cloak in shame, he came along hoping to make up for his sins. Prowl never really gave a reason, he always kept to himself, can't say I didn't admire him though, the man could calculate the rate of movement of 8,000 spinning objects and even tell each colour they are in under- anyways he's long gone now, the three of us traveled on board the Circle of Light's ship, an old fashioned one designed after the ancient's large exo-structures. Me an' Mirage learned some cyber ninja training on our trip and became a couple a' powerhouses if I do say so myself. The two of us were dropped off on Velocitron while Prowl stayed with them, I haven't seen him since. The two of us did our research and well… it was obvious that there was some evil going on, the two of us led a rebellion and made some progress here and there...'

'But?'

'But what?'

'What happened, why did you leave?'

Jazz groaned, he had hoped he wouldn't have to answer the question.

'To be honest with you Hotshot, I do not have a single valid answer for that. Back when I was leading the group I had some huge stress problem, the idea that we were being watched every hour of every day was just killing me.'

'How?' Hotshot was nearly yelling 'That doesn't sound like the Jazz I know at all, I don't think the words Jazz and stressed can even be used in the same sentence.'

'This was a long time ago Hotshot, back when the war was premature, back before I met- well it doesn't matter now.'

The two took a moment and let their engines speak for them

'I was scared Hotshot, no other reason than that, I was afraid, and I ran away, booted up a ship and flew back to Cybertron where I was captured by Decepticons and left to rot in Kaon prison where I spent my days doing push ups In my cell. Soon after we were released I found that I was being rescued by three Autobots; Optimus, Bumblebee, and Sideswipe, the first being my former partner cop. After Optimus became Prime I was given a high rank and put in charge of Autobot criminals, Autobots who were known for breaking the law in spite of the war.'

'Oh…'

Silence. Hotshot found himself trying to keep up behind Jazz as the spec ops officer was speeding up.

'We need to hurry' he spoke solemnly 'hold on; I'm going to grapple onto you.'

'Why?' questioned Hotshot 'wouldn't that just slow you down?'

'Just watch.' From Jazz's rear fender came a long string of light with a metallic tip. The grapple attatched onto Hotshot's front and held on tightly.'

'Now hold on tight'

Jazz's large thrusters began to glow before discharging a large ray of light, in moments Hotshot felt the adrenaline as he was shot forward with Jazz moving faster than he had ever gone before, blasting through the track; they passed by Override and the others, passed the finish line and towards the other wall at the far side of the stadium.

Hotshot struggled to speak from the velocity of the engines 'Jazz, the wall, we need to slow down or else we'll crash.'

Jazz's Gatling guns emerged from his vehicle mode and opened fire at the wall leaving large holes in the side of the stadium. Retracting his guns Jazz rammed through the weakened wall and out of the stadium.

* * *

_Nemesis_

Flatline clenched his four hands together as he stood in the medical bay, he hated the fact that he had become nothing more than an errand boy or a living repair ray for the wounded. He had done great things in his time, repaired some of the most powerful Decepticons from the brink of death. Trannis, Strika, Blackout, Shockwave, all Decepticon overlords that helped bring the Decepticons to their glory, of course it was _him _that helped them survive, if it wasn't for Flatline they would all be a pile of scrap left on a recharge slab with the cut marks of an inexperience surgeon. Of course they would never give Flatline any of the credit; it was always someone like Straxus or Spaceshot who got the glory for their victories. How come his old colleagues like Ratchet and Hoist got their credit during the war and not him? Was that just the Decepticon way? Either way he was here on this ship with few intelligent cons and a whole lot of work. He made his way to Slipstream and frowned at Skywarp and his metallic wolf as he passed by, it had seemed like the medical facility had become a regular hangout for pretty much all the Decepticons on board, there were only about 25 active cons on the Nemesis anyways with at least one of them broadcasting their location to the Novacons.

He tapped Slipstream on the shoulder impatiently; she was sitting cross legged trying to open a jar of Energon snacks.

'Um… my lord?'

Slipstream dropped the jar and turned her head to Flatline

'Oh hey- yo doc what up in the fahizzle?'

'Oh god did you just- I mean I had just finished putting Starscream's face back together after he "Slipped and fell"'

Slipstream stood up 'Okay, cool, so what?'

'He said-' Flatline took a moment to curse to himself '-he said he wanted to speak to you.'

Slipstream looked unenthusiastically at the cell and groaned 'Alright, I ought to see what he wants then yeah?'

She made her way over to the containment cell, taking a moment to think through what to say and entered the cell.

Misfire watched Ramjet and Quake lay on the slabs; they were both in stasis and recharging. Slugslinger on the other hand was located in the far corner with tubes connecting several areas of his chest to a large machine that was seemingly pumping him with Energon. Misfire had put enough Decepticons in that position in the past to become numb to it. His vision changed to Skywarp who was holding the metal wolf he had found by the paws.

'Hey Demolishor' called Misfire.

The large tank turned his large exterior and frowned at Misfire. 'What?'

'I was just wondering, do you have any idea what is up with Skywarp and that wolf?' he asked while pointing his thumb at the two.

He grunted 'Nope, I was in stasis after Grimlock smashed me remember?'

'Oh yeah, well anyways where do you think the animal came from?'

Demolishor shrugged his shoulders 'I 'unno'

Across the room Skywarp held his new pet joyfully.

'Who's a cute little puppy dog? You are! Yesh you are, yesh you are!'

Snarl was screaming internally _if you call me a puppy one more time…_

Skywarp rubbed the wolf behind the ears 'Aww are you getting a little grumpy little guy? Here this should help.'

_Hey that actually feels pretty goo- focus Snarl __**focus**__. These are Decepticons, your enemy… do something_

Snarl snapped his jaws at Skywarp causing the seeker to laugh playfully.

'Hah feisty aren't yah… hm now that I think about it maybe I should give you a name.'

Snarl settled down _Perhaps I can actually get them to give me a better name rather than just Bumblebee_

Skywarp rubbed his chin and looked to the side 'Now what would a good name be for a pooch like you…'

The metallic wolf began to let out a low snarl.

'Huh, you sure do like to snarl don't you?'

_Yes! _Snarl thought _That is right, a bot that snarls would be best named Snarl!_

Skywarp snapped his fingers 'That's it! I know exactly what to name you now!'

_That's right, my name is…_

'Doggy!'

_Wait what?_

'Your name from now on is Doggy! How do you like the sound of that?'

Snarl barked at Skywarp, gnashing his teeth.

_Idiot!_

'Aww I think you like it!'

Snarl didn't

Demolishor looked around the medbay before turning back to Misfire

'Hey Missy, have you seen Soundwave or his tapes anywhere? I haven't seen them since I came back online.'

'Um well first of all if you want to get some information from somebody, don't call them names, second, who cares? Why would you want to speak to sergeant kiss aft unless he found some info to blackmail you?'

A shadow came over Misfire as the con finished speaking. The red target master looked up to see Soundwave looming over him with Laserbeak perched on his shoulder.

'Sergeant Kiss Aft has entered the room, Misfire' spoke Soundwave.

Misfire's spark sunk 'Oh er- Soundwave! Hey how's it going? Just lurking around? That's cool, so uh… what's up?'

Soundwave stepped to the side to reveal a group of chained up Autobots kneeling behind him among them were a couple of beasts.

'Whoah!' Thrust jogged over to Soundwave and looked at the five Autobots cautiously

'Where did these guys come from? Were they on board the whole time?'

'Autobots designations Blaster, Rewind, Eject, Steeljaw, and Ramhorn, were on board the Nemesis under the guise of a music player owned by Quake.'

Misfire rubbed the arch of his nose and sighed 'Stupid Quake'

'They were under a covert mission to lay dormant for a certain amount of time in order to assassinate the Decepticon leader. They of course failed as unknown to them, they had a mole in their infiltration team that I had assigned a long time ago, she was under-'

'She?'

'-under the guise of Rosanna when her real name was-'

'Flipsides!'

A small dark purple and white cassetticon leaped from behind Soundwave's leg and stood triumphantly in front of the shackled Autobots.

'That's right! Sweet innocent little Rosanna turns out to be…' She waved her arms dramatically and made a dramatic pose 'Flipsides: Decepticon spy, under your noses all along.'

Skywarp snapped his fingers 'Oh hah that's right Flipsides.'

'Yup that's me!'

'Yeah I… no wait, nope doesn't ring a bell.'

Flipsides stomped on the metallic ground creating a light tapping sound under her small foot.

'Hmph, why I never, I will have you know that I happen to be a well-known Decepticon spy, why… I remember the day Megatron handpicked me personally to go through with the mission… if I recall it must have happened just over a year ago…'

* * *

_3407 years ago._

Soundwave entered the command bunker; Flipsides was huddled close behind him, tightly gripping onto the back of his leg as he stood. Megatron sat at his desk sending orders to field commanders via messaging. Soundwave waited silently for Megatron to acknowledge him.

'What do you want Soundwave?' he asked without looking up.

'My lord, I have a Decepticon willing to join our covert infiltration force.'

Megatron glanced up briefly and eyed Flipsides before turning back to his data pad

'Mm? and has this cassetticon of yours has read and agreed to the terms of service required for joining the infiltration force?'

'Affirmative, Flipsides has agreed to the terms.'

Megatron placed the data pad and clasped his hands together

'Well she isn't one to speak much so that should be a plus, otherwise so long as she read the terms of service everything should be fine.'

Soundwave eyed Flipsides, knowing that she hadn't bothered reading the contract before signing.

'I am sure you will be pleased my lord'

'Yes, yes, Flipsides, dismissed.'

The cassetticon brought a shaking hand to her forehead and saluted 'Yes sir… your majesty… sir.' She turned around and fast walked out of the room.

Megatron chuckled softly

'She's scared out of her spark, good, she hasn't bothered to read the terms did she?'

'No my liege'

'Ah well, if she gets caught and even thinks about giving out information to the enemy, her suicide lock will automatically activate and kill her before they get any info out of her.'

'Just like the other 134498038433 cons that have signed up?'

Megatron grinned baring his jagged teeth 'Exactly'

* * *

_Now_

'And then Megatron was all like "Flipsides, you are like totes the only one who can do this mission" and I was all like "Hell yeah Megs I'm the best" and he was all like- hey!'

The Decepticons had stopped listening to her and were now conversing with themselves.

'So have you seen that sparkling?' asked Misfire to Thrust

'You mean Super-mega-awesome-dynamite-rainbow-ticon? I think I heard Needlenose mention seeing her wandering around the hallways once but besides that not really, also did you see how big she's gotten? She's positively taller than all the Stunticons. Minus Motormaster of course.'

'Say have you noticed' joined Demolishor 'Slipstream has seemed kind of –what's the word- bored recently; maybe the lack of progress is getting on her nerves.'

'Yeah it seems she really wants to catch whoever is broadcasting our signal' said Thrust

'Hey!' Flipsides tried stomping the ground for attention 'Aren't you all surprised that I managed to get these Autobot's caught? I mean it was Soundwave who came and beat them down while I ah… spectated, but I was the one who sent him a signal of our location on the ship so there's that.'

The Decepticons soon ignored her and began to walk away. Frustrated, Flipsides turned herself around and faced Blaster and his crew.

'So… how does it feel to learn you've been betrayed? That one of your dearest friends turns out to be a Decepticon! Are you positively shocked, are your minds completely blown at what a… what's it called… a turn..'

'A twist?' asked Rewind

'Yeah a twist. –are your minds blown from what a twist this turns out to be?'

'To be honest…' began Blaster 'we all kind of knew from the beginning, I mean it was so obvious that we all kind of assumed you were either faking it, or mentally disabled in which we were afraid to ask about it in case it were to offend you.'

'What?!' Flipsides jumped back in shock 'What do you mean mentally- My acting was great! How could you disbelieve any of that?'

'You read your lines off of the palm of your hand' said Steeljaw blatantly 'It really wasn't that great of a performance.'

Flipsides fell to her knees 'But… but I really thought it was surprising…'

Slipstream kicked open the door to the cell and jumped into view.

'Now what did I hear about passing signals throughout my ship?'

She gazed around the room and spotted Flipsides

'Oh. My. God.' She rushed over to the smaller bot and kneeled next to her 'You are absolutely adorable, what's your name?'

'Flipsides…'

'Huh? Well that's unfortunate… wait…' Slipstream eyed the shackled Autobot's and crawled up next to them.'

'Holy crap, you guys must be the ones that are broadcasting our signal to the Novacons. Awesome!'

Blaster responded with a confused glance 'Um… no… aren't the Novacon's… you know, dead? Extinct?'

Slipstream looked up at Soundwave worriedly 'Soundwave… please tell me they aren't telling the truth.'

'They are telling the truth.'

Slipstream stood up and slapped her forehead in frustration

'Holy Fu-'

'Slipstream!' Skywarp called

'-lcrum. What is it Skywarp?'

'I was just wondering, what was it Starscream had to say?'

Slipstream relaxed her exterior 'He said the usual whiny scrap, "Oh please I beg forgiveness of you and wish to be a proper Decepticon once again"'

Skywarp squinted 'And what did you say?'

She sighed placing her hands on her hips 'I said okay, I mean it isn't like we don't know he will be planning anything and besides from what I've heard from Thundercracker he has only ever gained leadership by stepping in whenever Megatron was put into a critical condition.'

She turned her head to the side and darted her eyes across the floor 'Which reminds me, it seems that Thundercracker has been avoiding me as of late, maybe it was something I said…?'

She turned her head back and looked Skywarp square in the optic 'Anyways I am allowing him to stay on board until we find Megatron, then we will leave him to decide whichever punishment he sees fit for our treacherous seeker here.'

'Really? You sure we shouldn't have some sort of punishment for him?'

'I like to think karma got to him first when he fell on his face, besides, there's the off chance that Megatron might want him for himself so I think it would be for the best.'

Skywarp sighed 'I guess so… yo Demolishor, throw the prisoners in the cell why don't ya?'

Demolishor groaned and walked over to the Autobots, literally throwing each of them into the cell with Starscream.

The last to be thrown in was Rewind who took a moment to look out the doorway just as it slammed shut.

Starscream groaned uncomfortably and moved himself into the back corner of the cell.

'More of you? How many stowaways are on this ship anyways?'

Steel jaw made a noise with his nostrils as he tried to get comfortable

'He does have a point; there are a lot of us stuck on this ship'

Eject shuffled forward 'Hey yeah the lot of us could be a team.'

'No…' said Starscream 'Please no…'

'Hey I know' said Ramhorn cheerfully 'The seven of us should be called –are you ready for this- the Stowaways.'

Demolishor quickly opened up the door, grabbed Starscream by the head, and pulled him out before shutting the cell door behind him.

'My bad, the _six _of us should be called the Stowaways'

'The Stowaways?' grumbled Grimlock 'That is the dumbest name I've ever heard.'

'Well that's just your opinion… wait' Ramhorn yelped in shock

The Autobots were shocked to find the Dinobot leader strung up against the wall, hanging above them.

'G-Grimlock?!'

'What are you doing here?' asked Blaster cautiously

He grunted in response

'Wait.' Eject began ' overheard Rumble talking about breaking a monsters audio receptors, that was… you? If it was, then how are you still able to hear us?'

'Audio; only gone in Beast mode' he muttered 'Otherwise…me awake.'

Ramhorn huddled himself against his leader for security

'Relax' assured Blaster 'Grimlock here is a caring Autobot like us, he isn't going to hurt us.' He smiled at the larger beast 'Aren't you Grimlock?'

'I will gouge out your optical sensors with… thumb, tear off limbs, and leave your body out for Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to pick at for dinner.'

Blaster began reaching for the door 'Let me out, let me out, let me out!'

Eject turned his head from Blaster to Rewind who was inspecting the Dinobot shackled to the wall.

'Yo Rewind, what are you doing there, did you not hear him just now? "Rawr I will rip off your limbs" you don't usually get close to someone when they are so…'

'Interesting!'

'What?' Grimlock and Eject spoke in unison.

Rewind examined Grimlock's leg and rubbed his chin 'You have gone under some extreme physical modifications haven't you? How have you come to be like this? Grimlock?'

The titan was pretending to be in stasis.

Outside; Slipstream stood with folded arms in front of a bowing Starscream.

'As I have mentioned with the others- you will be free to live on the Nemesis until we receive Megatron, he will be the one to decide what to do with you. Also, as skilled and powerful as you really are, be weary that a lot of the Decepticons on board don't… like you, so be careful yeah?'

She smacked him in the head

'Sorry, I kind of hate you too… don't worry I won't hit you anymore.'

She hit him again

'Whoops this time I promise'

She brought her hand down only this time Starscream dodged thoroughly

Starscream nodded solemnly 'Yes, thank you my lord.'

'Awesome, now dismissed.'

Starscream stood up and made his way out of the med bay, down the long purple corridors, past the intimidating glances, and into a small room in the corner hall where a Decepticon sat in his rotating chair.

'I'm in' spoke Starscream.

The chair rotated 90 degrees revealing Thundercracker sitting with his hands clasped together.

'Brilliant.'

* * *

_Velocitron_

Brakedown cursed under his breath as the feed on the videos were cut. Spinning himself around he made his way towards his experiments with a wide smile.

'Now then, who here feels like racing?'

Wheeljack was the first to speak 'Not at all why?'

Brakedown wrinkled his brow 'Anyone else'

'Your videos won't work Brakedown' taunted Mirage 'we fought in the Great War remember? We've been trained for things like this; we know what is true and what is perceived.'

Brakedown eyed each of the prisoners and saw the looks on each of their faces. Pincher, Bluestreak, Hound, Dogfight, Arcee, they were all in control.

'What?! That should have turned your brains to mush! Didn't any of you perceive the subliminal messages that were littered through that feed?'

'You mean the words "You love racing" that kept moving across the screen?' asked Red Alert 'Yeah, sorry but you are going to need to try better than that.'

Brakedown roared and punched a hole into the vid screen leaving cracks stretching across the monitor.

'Kill them all!' he ordered the guards.

The guards lined up mirroring the Autobot prisoners and raised their weapons.

'Well I've got to admit' said Grotusque 'I would have imagined my end to be a bit more explosive if you know what I mean.'

'You mean like blowing up?' asked Dogfight

'Yeah! Only you, know, without the pain of being blown up.'

'Will you please be quiet!' ordered Mirage 'Let's just get this over with'

'Well guys, any regrets?' asked Dogfight

The silence prompted him to speak 'Very well, I would just like to point out that I regret being alone for so long, there, anyone else?'

'I actually have a few things to regret' stated Hound 'but really I think I regret not seeing more of the universe and all of my days fighting a probably endless war.'

'I regret nothing.' Muttered Red Alert

'I regret leaving Repugnus and Doublecross without an awesome exit…' said Grotusque 'you know… like with Repugnus begging me to leave and me saying "frankly my dear, I don't give a damn"'

'I regret some things too…' said Arcee 'I mean… what happened with Sideswipe was… well I regret that… I hope you all realize that.'

Cliffjumper groaned 'Well I regret a lot of things. Things some of you know about and other things you don't. But I think over all – I think I regret not thanking Jazz, for anything.

Mirage lowered his head 'I think… I think I have made enough regrets already you can skip me'

'All I want to say…' said Bluestreak 'is that it's been an honour working with you guys, all of you.

'Don't say that!' spat Wheeljack 'People always die right after they say things like that.'

'Well isn't that what's going to happen in a few seconds?'

Wheeljack went silent prompting Bluestreak to sigh.

'We really should have expected this, I mean look at us, ten nobodies ready for the scrap heap.'

Hound shot the Autobot a worried glance 'Blue…'

He continued ignoring his comrade 'We all knew things were going to end this way, think about it, whenever we lose someone important, be it by death's hand or by simply losing them in action, everyone reacts. Prime, Ironhide, Jetfire, Sideswipe, Jazz, Prowl… they are always remembered, but not us, never the bots on the ground that get slaughtered one by one by whatever super Decepticon that marches our way. We are the ones that blend into the background, the ones that are always forgotten, and it will always be that way, no matter who you are, you can never be a Jazz or a Perceptor… or… or an Ultra Magnus, because we were always born to be the ones taking the shots for ones who really count.'

Brakedown clapped his hands 'Wow, brilliant speech, really touching, if only it wasn't so wasted.' He raised a hand 'Kill them now.'

The guards began to lower their guns and stare blankly at the ceiling.

'What?!' demanded Brakedown 'Why aren't you firing?'

'You don't hear that?' asked an orange and purple guard 'It sounds like… like a beeping noise.'

Brakedown flung his arms in the air in annoyance 'who the hell cares?! What is with you people, seriously, you all get so distracted whenever something as simple as a beeping noise is sounding when you're about to execute a prisoner, god it could just very well be Backstreet getting an Energon pie out of the oven for gods-'

Suddenly the ceiling erupted into a fireball of flame and shrapnel as a wave of bullets showered down from above. While some of the guards managed to dodge what they could, most were gunned down almost immediately. From the smoke of the explosion, Jazz and Hotshot emerged both brandishing a gun, or in Jazz's case, many guns.

'-sake, stop them!' Brakedown barked, his aged vocalizer cracking in the process.

The vac lift soon opened and about a dozen guards poured out, all holding heavy weaponry.

Jazz transformed his hand to normal and cracked his knuckles 'twenty against one? Now that isn't even fair, maybe we should at least give them a head start, just to balance it out yeah?'

Hotshot turned his head from the other Autobots and back to Jazz 'Um, Jazz, the others.'

'That's why I said twenty against _one, _I'll hold them off, and you get to the controls.' He motioned to the large monitor in the corner of the room.

Hotshot nodded determinedly and sprinted to the controls.

The first guard charged swinging a sword left and right, as he swung it down on Jazz, the spec ops agent grabbed the hilt with one hand, punched the guard in the jaw and pulled the sword from his hand. Two more guards charged towards Jazz carrying rocket launchers. Jazz got low and swept his legs across the ground beneath the guard's feet. The guard went falling face first into the ground sending off his rocket firing into the other guards chest. This time it was Jazz who charged into the action as he sliced at the competition with the other guard's sword.

'Jazz!' Hotshot called

Jazz banged a couple of guard's heads together and transformed his arm into a scatter blaster

'What?'

Hotshot was at the controls, tapping frantically at the keyboard

'It won't let me in, it's passcode protected'

'I know the Passcode!' Mirage shouted while using all of his strength 'It's "Need for Speed" thank Backstreet when we find him.'

Hotshot entered the code and grinned

'Will do, disabling all forms of constraint in three… two…'

Hotshot hit the holographic key and in moments the Autobot's fell from their shackles.

Wheeljack stretched his metallic muscles and readied his gun 'Yeah, that's good, now who is there left to shoot?'

Jazz approached the group while juggling the still living head of one of the guards.

'At the moment Jackie? No one, I got it all handled.'

Wheeljack sighed in relief 'Thank Primus I thought I would have to do…' he shivered 'work…'

'Jazz!' Cliffjumper rushed up to his partner, he held out his arms to embrace but quickly stopped himself and offered a handshake.

'I er… I was afraid you were dead back there.'

Jazz scooped up the smaller bot with both arms and held him tight in the air

'I missed you too man.'

As Jazz placed him back on the ground and the smaller bot laughed in embarrassment

'Yeah… heh… thanks'

Mirage approached the mech with a cold stare.

'Welcome back.' He said plainly

'Good to see you Mirage'

Cliffjumper raised both his hands and glared at Mirage 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, would someone please tell me _why _we are talking to a Decepticon here?'

'Relax Cliff' Jazz said while holding out an assuring hand 'he's on our side.'

Cliffjumper rolled his optics and wandered to the side 'Look, I think I have a right to ask when we have had a Decepticon leading us for the past couple of days.'

Mirage rubbed the arch of his nose 'We wouldn't have this conversation if I had just kept my cloak on.'

Jazz put a hand on the blue bots shoulder 'This is why I told you not to show your face back in the med bay, damn it I probably should have left a note or something.'

'This is meaningless' interrupted Arcee 'we need to prepare, there could be guards flooding In here at any second'

'I wouldn't count on that' mused Hotshot

'And why would you say that?'

'Because those were the master controls, right now dozens of prisoners have escaped their cells and are no doubt giving the other guards a little more than they can handle'

Hotshot was correct as the prison block above was filled with prisoners fighting back against the guards.

Prisoners would transform into the modes that would otherwise lead them to their deaths and fight off the guards with the things that they had found unnatural. Bots would change into viscous metallic beasts including fierce carnivorous lions and jaquars as well as large reptilian dinosaurs that knashed with their mouths. The Aerialbots that didn't use the opportunity to escape gave some of the guards a ride to the top of the ceiling and crashing back down.

'You really think we are safe now?' asked Hound

'Wait' Red Alert paused and leant out both hands, 'I feel as though we are forgetting something.'

A laser blast shot from the corner of the room, tearing through both of the security director's arms

The Autobots spun their heads to the source to see the heavily armored Brakedown, now equipped with rail guns in both hands.

'Y'all didn't think it would be that easy did you?'

The group took cover behind the pedestals while Jazz provided covering support.

Mirage made his way towards Hound and Red Alert who were reloading their weapons

'You need to leave, now!'

'Why? We can fight him.' argued Hound

'No you can't, Brakedown is equipped with Railguns, the exact weapon that put Jazz into his critical state, the lot of you need to retreat back to HQ, there should be a ship waiting for you there.'

'A ship?' Arcee fired a round at Brakedown and watched as it bounced off his armor plating, the only thing that seemed to provide any damage appeared to be Jazz and his own heavy weaponry

'You want us to leave?' she asked almost relieved

'You don't have a choice really, Brakedown knows all of our faces, soon enough we will be broadcasted as wanted fugitives, I'm sorry but it is the only way.'

Wheeljack tried firing a missile from cover only for it too to bounce off of Brakedown's chassis and explode into the side of the wall sending specs of metal flick over them.

'And I assume you are gonna stay and help fight?' asked the engineer

'I'll catch up with you all later, I have already sent Swerve and Windcharger a message saying to head back to base and prepare the ship for liftoff.'

'I'll help hold Brakedown off as well' exclaimed Hotshot

'Same here' said Cliffjumper gruffly 'Jazz is my Partner, I need to make sure we don't end up losing him again.' He eyed Mirage 'Especially when there are Decepticons about'

Hound signalled Pincher and Dogfight to lay off the cover fire and join them before turning back to Mirage.

'Alright, we'll take your word for it, good luck'

'I'll need it?' asked the Decepticon

'I doubt it' remarked Bluestreak as he jogged towards the lift

'Autobots' Hound addressed Red Alert, Arcee, Grotusque, Dogfight, Pincher and Wheeljack

'Let's roll'

The Autobots sprinted for the lift while Mirage, Hotshot and Cliffjumper readied their weapons. As soon as Brakedown cracked Jazz's visor with a punch to the face, the three armed bots charged with guns blazing.

* * *

_Nemesis_

The two seekers walked side by side down the hallway. As formal as Thundercracker appeared, Starscream could still feel the wounds that Thundercracker had given him. He would be getting revenge, oh yes, but for now he will play along with Thundercracker until he becomes leader, then he can get revenge.

'So where is it you are leading me to again?' he asked

'I told you already, to the place where I found Slipstream's body.'

Starscream groaned 'Yes, how nice.'

'We may be able to extract some key elements from the corpse that can act as proof for future use, otherwise we will sticking to your plan.'

Starscream blinked in surprise 'Plan?'

'Yes.' Thundercracker stopped 'You did have a plan for taking leadership from Megatron didn't you?'

'Um… well'

'I mean, you weren't just acting all snarky just for the sake of acting that way, you _did _have a plan to become leader no?'

'Well…' Starscream rubbed his hands together in desperation 'I mean I have dreamed of ways to terminate Megatron; however I doubt I would have the correct opportunity to carry them out.'

Thundercracker sighed and started walking again 'Alright, we'll think of a better plan once we are done here.'

Starscream grumbled as the two walked.

'I'm sorry by the way.' Muttered Thundercracker

'What?'

'About hitting you, it was really unprofessional of me, I apologize.'

Starscream grinned; it was time for his reputation to shine

'My dear Thundercracker, I do not blame you for your over aggression during our chat.'

Thundercracker looked skeptical 'Really?'

'Quite so, you merely allowed your inner Decepticon to take shape, you let it take shape and used it for your power.'

Thundercracker smiled soft enough that Starscream could have imagined it 'I never thought of it that way.'

He paused and raised both his hands in thought. Starscream stopped and turned to his fellow seeker impatiently.

'What now?'

Thundercracker mouthed some words as he rotated his body clockwise.

'I think this is it.'

'Where?' Starscream turned his head from left to right, eyeing both ends of the corridor, there wasn't a single door or passage in sight.

Thundercracker pressed himself against the left wall and spread his arms across it. He felt the cold metal until his fingers dipped into shallow cracks.

'Yup, this is definitely it.'

Starscream examined the wall and took a step forward. He could see the outline of the door more vividly now.

'Wow that's really hidden isn't it…'

'It opens, pretty easy.' Thundercracker clenched his fists anxiously 'Go on and open it Starscream, take a peek inside and see for your-self…'

* * *

_Velocitronian Circuit_

Override raced down the racetrack at mach-speed. Though to her it wasn't a race anymore; all that mattered was getting to the stage and revealing to the world what Velocitron really was. Surely it will end the fascism of this planet, Override was sure of it. Though she had to admit, what she was doing both scared her and excited her, it scared her because she could not drop the feeling of yanking the population out of their perfect lives the way it was done to her, yet she felt excited from the sheer fact that for the first time in her life it felt like she was doing something truly meaningful.

Ahead of her were her two arch nemeses, Ransack and Crumplezone, the two of them had come second and third to her on several occasions, even prompting a photo finish at one point (She was ahead by three centimeters), but she knew them well, they were in it for the fake glory, to be seen as kings to the populace and never cared to hide the fact. This always unnerved her, she always felt like a real leader would be more modest, otherwise she believed they would have sounded like a villain.

'Hey, hey' Ransack taunted 'look who's finally catching up.'

Override ignored them; she just kept speeding forward as fast as she could.

Ransack and Crumplezone began to slow down from the surprise of Override's reaction. There was no sarcasm, no retort; she just sped ahead with a goal in mind.

Dirtboss charged passed them, his ultra-boosters flaring blue flames as he went forward.

'Was that- was that a forklift?'

'I dunno…'

Dirtboss moved closer to Override, just when he was about to flip her off the road with his fork, she made the first turn and Dirtboss drove off the track and into a ditch.

'Ah scrap me to the pit why don't you?'

Override charged what was left in her thrusters and did a leap off of the road and onto the stage. There was no one there to greet her with a trophy, or even a handshake, everyone had already exited the stadium. She crouched next to the monitor behind her and entered the data stick. Almost instantly the file in the stick was sent through the screen and into the now empty broadcasting room. In moments Override witnessed the video replace the cam feed on the large screen.

Around the planet, Velocitronians watched as the screen changed from the brutality of the Decepticons slaughtering both law enforcers and civilians alike to a surprisingly more gruesome scene involving Brakedown explaining his secret to the Autobot prisoners.

The world went silent as they listened to the words being spoken by one of their leaders.

_War…Chaos…Prisoners… execution… they become our fuel._

Upon witnessing Clocker being fed into the machine, every mech with a glass in their hand spit up their drinks

Within a bar a group of bots watched the television among the roaring crowd

'Vector Primus!'

'You can't be serious, this is a joke right?'

'You saw what they did damn it, this changes everything, I mean I heard the theories but dear god I think I'm goin to-'

A loud blue Velocitronian stepped forward 'Oh come on, who cares what this means, hell they are only mashing up animals right? So what, I've hunted turbofoxs before and their Energon worked pretty fine.'

One of the bots stood up 'This is completely different, did you even see that brown and red one? It was quivering, that bot had a soul, and look at all the other ones. Do they _look _like animals to you?'

The blue bot sat back down 'Ah who cares, all energon's the same to me, who cares if they are doing some farming in the basement.'

Others sat down with him and reached for their glasses.

'Wait!' said one of the bots. An orange and green sports car turned to the bulky bartender who was trying to sneak out.'

'You!' The bartender rushed for the door but was quickly grabbed right when he was able to look through the plexiglass window. There were Velocitronians running across the street screaming out their lungs and rushing towards the great hall. The orange bot spun him around and jabbed a finger at him.

'You've known about all this haven't you?'

'No! I never I-'

'YOU DID!'

A horrified look came across the bartender's face followed by a look of sadness, followed by a blank expression, in one swift motion the bartender's hand transformed into a shotgun-like weapon and aimed it under his own chin.

'You're right, it is all true.' In moments the bartender's head exploded splattering everything that was once held in his cranium across the plexi-glass window.

'Sweet mother of racing!'

'A damn shame' muttered the loud blue bot as he chugged another glass

'What is that?' asked a purple femme pointing at the weapon. None of them had seen a gun in their lives. The orange bot observed the shotgun carefully before picking it up

'I think he used this to… kill himself.'

'I would too!' spat the blue bot 'Y'all acting like the world is going to shit when all that's been happening was a farming for freaks to keep us all alive, what's the big deal with that?'

Consumed by anger, the orange bot raised the gun on the blue one, mimicking the action the bartender made, he pulled the trigger.

* * *

_30 minutes later_

Override was on her knees crying. All around her were flames, they were burning it down, Hotshot was wrong. The video didn't band the entire planet against the world's leaders. It tore it in half. Not everyone would share the same opinion, why didn't she expect that? The sky was blood red as gunshots sounded around her. The Mobs were burning buildings every chance they got resulting in embers rising and dancing around the racer as if they were taunting Override for her failure. They had accomplished in stopping Brakedown's dream, just not in the way she imagined. A war had started on the planet, between those who agreed and disagreed was it really as simple as that? The only words that escaped her lips within the 30 minutes of blood shed were

'Dear god what have I done'

She sobbed as a figure emerged from the flames.

* * *

**AN: Please R&R (Rest and Relax)**


	25. Burned Part ll

_AN: I think this goes down in history as the most edited chapter, I ended up changing the dialogue of two characters, adding dialogue in places, adding scenes, deleting scenes and ultimately improved it, things still turned out the same way, I just made it flow much better than in the first draft. Also I realized how much the bolded text for my notes seemed to cry out for attention, so for now I will be using italics. The epilogue will be coming after this, and after that I have come up with some ideas for other story ideas before continuing After the Fall._

_They are;_

_A what if story involving Smokescreen (TF Prime)_

_A detective one shot involving Swerve (Mtmte) _

_And a Prime one shot involving Soundwave_

_Did I mention that most of my favourite characters start with an S?_

* * *

Mirage was thrown directly into a sharp piece of metal causing him to wince in pain; he pushed at ground lifting himself up just for Cliffjumper to be thrown into him sending him back into the sharp metal that pierced his back. He hated how reminiscent the fight was to his days in the Decepticon army.

'Frag!' he shoved the wounded body of Cliffjumper off of him and caressed his wound gently. Brakedown was stronger than he would have imagined, the old mech was not only armed to the brim with concussion rifles and thermos launchers, but he also held great skill and strength in hand to hand combat. He had obviously been preparing himself for a situation like this for a long time.

Cliffjumper rolled himself over and rubbed the back of his skull.

'Scrap Mirage, what were you doing in my way? I think I might have scraped my arm over your pointy Decepticon symbol'

'Oh shut up will you,' spat the ex-Decepticon 'I think I've got a chunk of metal sticking out of my back from you'

'Well maybe I- Whoa!'

A laser blast hit the ground beneath the bots sending the two of them flying away from eachother from the force of the blast.

Brakedown's shoulder mounted guns seemed to work independently as he lifted Hotshot off of the ground by his throat.

'You know this really is more of a joke then anything.' He muttered grimly

He tightened his grip causing Hotshot to feel a mix of pain and light headedness with the feeling of his spark nearly disconnecting to his brain module.

'You have all been fighting in a war for a century and yet with a little cyber ninja training and some armor enhancements it is _this _easy to best you.'

He slammed Hotshot into the ground forming a small crater where he stood.

'Okay, maybe some cyber ninja training and _a lot _of armor enhancements.'

Brakedown raised a fist to land a finishing blow on the young bot when a sniper blast knocked him away from his opponent.

The wielder of the sniper rushed up to the Velocitonian and pistol whipped him across the face with his weapon.

'Mirage' yelled Jazz 'Take Hotshot and Cliffjumper and go!'

Mirage gripped his wounds as he stood himself up 'I told you, we're staying this to the end.'

Jazz fired a shot into Brakedown's abdomen causing him to stagger.

'Don't give me that scrap man; just leave before I end up having to dig some graves.'

Mirage turned his back to the fight and gripped the handle of his rifle

'You know what? After abandoning me- for abandoning _us, _I always thought that despite all that you were –that you _are, _that I could do just as good as you, now I realize that without you coming here to the rescue, I would be dead.'

Brakedown roundhouse kicked Jazz in the face bringing him to the ground.

'But that isn't the reason why I want to help you, when you abandoned us all that time ago we lost some great men…'

Brakedown allowed Jazz to get onto his knees only to punch him across the face shattering his visor and sending optic fluid flying across the floor, staining the silver alloy yellow.

'And to be honest?'

Gripping onto Brakedown's arm, Jazz managed to tear off a mounted pulse rifle only for Brakedown to tear off a Gatling gun in response

'…I believe that you should be abandoned just like we were,'

Brakedown swung the Gatling gun across Jazz's face like a club.

'And you deserve it!'

Brakedown unsheathed a sword from his back and hovered it above Jazz's neck

'But you know what?'

Mirage spun around and fired two shots from his nucleon charge rifle. 'If I were to abandon you, I wouldn't be any better.'

One hit Brakedown in the face causing him to stagger; the second hit him in the chest sending him flying away from Jazz. The ex-Decepticon rushed over and helped his former partner to his feet. From the corner of his optic he could see Brakedown lifting himself up and raising his head to reveal his endo skull beneath his torn off faceplate.

'Sorry man.' Muttered Jazz 'But the best way to help…' he pushed Mirage away from him and charged towards Brakedown 'would be to get outta here and live your life!'

Jazz put Brakedown into a headlock and raised his hand as if to wave goodbye. He fired a grapple at the hole in the ceiling and grappled himself up with Brakedown in tow.

Mirage cursed to himself in distraught yet felt a feeling of relief coming over him as well.

'Cliffjumper!'

The red minibot rubbed the back of his neck as he began to come to

'What…'

'Grab Hotshot, we're retreating.'

Cliffjumper sprang to his feet 'What? But what about-'

'Jazz left to fight Brakedown alone, we need to escape so that-'

Cliffjumper peered at the ceiling 'No, I won't leave Jazz, not after everything he's done for me.'

Mirage began to worry about the horned bot.

'Look Cliffjumper I know you and Jazz are close but…' He spotted Hotshot from the corner of his eye and jogged over to him. He draped the knocked out bot over his shoulder and made his way back to Cliffjumper.

'I won't leave him like this.' Cliffjumper started grabbing at the side of the wall, trying to find a loose crevice to climb onto.

Mirage grabbed him by his back collar and lifted the smaller bot off of his feet.

'No, NO!' Cliffjumper lashed at the air in front of him as if doing so would pull Jazz back to him. Mirage hurled him over his other shoulder, shrugging off the weight of two bots.

Cliffjumper was screaming now, he flailed and kicked as Mirage reluctantly carried the bot into the lift and away from his partner. Cliffjumper was reaching out, gripping the air as the image of the control room disappeared under the lift's door.

* * *

_Nemesis_

'AGGGHHH!'

'Starscream! I know that it isn't a pretty sight but-'

'…there's nothing here'

'-we need to be- what?'

Starscream stood in front of the opened door wearing a look of confusion and boredom, Thundercracker peered into the tight broom closet to find it completely scrubbed clean of anything reminiscent of a corpse. He placed his hands behind his head and shut his optics.

'Damn it...'

'Is this it?' asked Starscream irritably 'Is all this just one of Thundercracker's world famous jokes? 'cause it isn't very funny.'

'It was here!' Thundercracker snapped and pointed a finger at the empty closet 'I am certain of it; a few days ago I found Slipstream's body in this very closet, there's no mistaking it.'

'Well you know…' Starscream wringed his hands together nervously '…it could have just been your imagination, I mean it would only make sense that the troops would hallucinate after witnessing such a thing as the budding process, especially when it is being done by an old friend.'

Thundercracker glared at the seeker with widened optics

'What?'

'Well it's just…'

Thundercracker moved closer to Starscream causing the air commander to back away in fear.

'I know what I saw Starscream, _I _am the sane one on board, don't you forget it.'

He turned himself around and inspected the interior of the closet. Starscream sighed in relief upon realizing that he wouldn't have to go through the same events that had happened inside his cell earlier. Upon realizing what he was thinking, Starscream slapped himself in the face, this wasn't Megatron he was talking to, this was Thundercracker, he had never feared of the weakest amongst the Seekers, so why did he feel afraid now?

'Yup…' Thundercracker nodded as he closed the closet door. 'She moved the corpse somewhere else, she must've been aware that I found her secret and hid the one bit of proof I had against her.'

Starscream placed his hands behind his head

'So… do you think Slipstream is the Novacon on board?'

Thundercracker froze 'What makes you say that?'

'You mean besides the fact that she is an imposter pretending to be the real Slipstream _and _she happened to have shown up around the same times the broadcasts to the Novacons started?'

The blue seeker sighed 'I don't know Starscream.'

'it only makes sense is what I'm saying, her budding process could have been a side effect on one of those experiments the Novacons always did to themselves. And the smiling, we both know how much this new Slipstream like to smile, and if I recall, the Novacons always had these wide smiles on their faces no matter what, I did stare a Novacon in the face while it taunted me for a whole day mind you'

'Yeah, you mentioned…'

Starscream noticed the look of regret on Thundercracker's face and decided to change the subject

'Say did I ever mention the time I terminated the life of an Autobo-'

_Vzzzzm…._

'What was that?' Starscream asked

Thundercracker raised a finger to calm him and reached for his belt.

'It's just my communicator' He grabbed a small cellular device and flipped it open.

'It's a message, it says-'

Thundercracker froze as he read the message

_Dear Thundercracker,_

_It is not a hallucination, or a trick, but for the good of everyone you care about, please believe that it was. Do not interfere with events that do not concern you seeker, if you do then you will be erased, I am watching you right now and I am aware of how much you already know; too much._

_-Anonymous _

'What? What does it say?'

Thundercracker dropped the communicator.

_Erased_

'What's with you?' Starscream reached for the littered object but was quickly stopped by Thundercracker's foot.

'It was Soundwave…' Thundercracker grabbed the communicator and tucked it into his belt '…he says we should head to the med bay.'

Starscream huffed and rolled his optics 'That oaf? What does _he _want?'

'How should I know?'

Starscream shrugged and continued down the hall with Thundercracker following close behind. One word was stuck on the blue seeker's mind; the same word he kept repeating it under his breath.

_Erased…_

* * *

_Velocitron_

It had all happened so fast, the rioting, the shooting, and the fires. Override's video had created a war between not only those that agreed and disagreed to Brakedown's morals, but between the intolerant and the different beings that were held in Brakedown's prison, soon to be drained of Energon. No matter which way he looked, Barricade could see the signs of the premature war that was about to break. Fires were lit turning the once pristine spires into black shrivelled pitchforks that signalled death above the coloured flames below. Velocitronians that were only recently sharing drinks and playfully racing were now stabbing each other with whatever sharp objects they could get their servos on. Barricade should be laughing right now, he should having the time of his life watching the Velocitronians tear each other apart, so why did he have this feeling of regret

'Hah, did you see them Barricade? One of those bots got their head knocked off with a pole!'

Barricade waved a hand to silence Motorhead and kept walking amongst the huge crowd of rioters.

'I signalled the ship to land at our position once we get to the clearing, we'll wait for the Stunticons and the Constructicons there.'

'GOOD THINKING BOSS!' announced Groundhog

'Whatever, I think there is a clearing right past he-'

Barricade found himself face to face with Hound, Red Alert, Bluestreak, Wheeljack, Arcee, Grotusque, and Dogfight. There weapons were all trained on him as Pincher used his armored plating in scorpion mode to defend the group from stray bullets.

'AUTOBOTS!' announced Groundhog

'Way to point out the obvious…' muttered Grotusque

'He does that' replied Barricade

'Listen' said Hound lowering his blaster 'We don't want any trouble, we just want to retreat to our ship and leave this planet'

Barricade raised his hands in surrender 'What a coincidence, so are we, now if you don't mind I would prefer not to be gunned down right now' he tapped two fingers at his wrist signalling the time 'and you know we are both on the clock so how about lower the weapons and we can act as if we never even saw each other here yeah?'

Barricade watched as Bluestreak transformed his assault rifle back into his hand

'Yeah, see that is all it takes to-'

Bluestreak unsheathed an Energon blade and leaped at the off-guarded Groundhog. He sliced at the Decepticon's stomach causing him to stagger before kicking him into the riot.

Groundhog tried numerous attempts to get back up but the crowding rioters kept bringing him to the ground under their feet. It must've been after the ninth time he gave up trying to stand as large foot came down onto his skull trampling what was left of the Decepticon into a flattened corpse.

Barricade watched the carnage and spun around to face Bluestreak,

'Damn y-!'

Bluestreak unloaded an assault rifle round into Barricade sending him onto the ground, only unlike Groundhog he managed to make it to his feet before getting trampled. It wasn't enough time however and Bluestreak came charging forward with his Energon blade aimed at his throat. Barricade could feel his brain module whirr and suddenly everything was going in slow motion, he could feel the burning sensation in his processor as the hot air it produced danced within his skull. He could dodge it, he could counter it, but he didn't, because Motorhead had jumped in the way.

Bluestreak's blade pierced through Motorhead's throat causing purple viscera to spray from the nape of his neck.

'NO!'

Barricade grabbed Motorhead's shoulders and lowered the con to the ground as he fell.

'Motorhead! Listen to me we'll get you to safety, we'll-'

'Barricade?' rust was forming around Motorhead's optic sensors.

'What, what is it?'

Motorhead tried to lift an arm but only managed a finger.

'Did I- Did I do good?'

Before Barricade could answer, the light behind Motorhead's optics was already gone.

'Yes Motorhead…' Barricade shut the deceased con's optics and lowered his head against his chest '…you did good'

Barricade leapt to his feet gripping the handle of his rifle.

'Damn you all too-'

A blade pierced through Barricade's back and out his stomach causing the black and white mech to fall head first into the ground.

Grotusque held back Bluestreak as they watched Mirage unsheathe his blade.

'A little help?' he gently placed Hotshot next to the team and held out the still struggling Cliffjumper.

Wheeljack and Dogfight held Cliffjumper's arms behind his back as Hound approached Mirage.

'Did you…'

'Kill him? No, I only disabled some minor circuitry' Mirage placed a pair of stasis cuffs around Barricade's wrists before giving Hound a confused glance. 'You guys still take prisoners right?'

'Yes, of course!' exclaimed Hound

Mirage lifted the restrained Barricade to his feet and eyed Bluestreak skeptically

'You sure? Because with Bluestreak just now-'

'Trust me, that was an exception, he's just on edge. Anyway…'

Red Alert approached them with a worried look.

'I'll deal with Barricade's incarceration, but for now I am unable to do that…' he motioned to his missing arms that were blown off by Brakedown 'For the good of us all though I would suggest we get to the ship as fast as possible, the chaos is spreading.'

Mirage nodded and pulled Barricade by the collar 'Got it, Windcharger and Swerve radioed me saying they are ready for lift off, they got Blurr in there safe and sound too so they are just waiting for us.'

Wheeljack gripped onto Cliffjumper as he struggled 'And Jazz? What about him?'

Mirage shook his head 'He stayed to finish off Brakedown'

Wheeljack lowered his head 'Oh…'

'We'll wait for him though' Mirage said nodding encouragingly 'I wouldn't worry.'

'Are you kidding?!' Cliffjumper relinquished himself from Wheeljack's grasp and turned back to the grand hall.

'We need to go back for him it is-'

Dogfight clubbed the horned bot over the head knocking him into stasis.

'What? He was being a nuisance…' he turned his head from one side to the other as the Autobot's glared at him 'Okay fine, I'll carry him.'

'Guys?' Arcee called from ahead of the group.

'What is it?' asked Mirage dreading to hear more bad news

'Where's Hotshot, he was here just a second ago.'

Mirage began pacing nervously 'Damnit, where'd he-' he cupped his hands around his mouth and called

'Hotshot!'

Hound placed a reassuring hand on the blue bot's shoulder.

'Relax, I know where he is.'

'What? But how-'

'Trust me, they didn't name me head tracker in the Autobot army for nothing, take the others to the ship, I'll grab Hotshot and bring him to you.'

Hound smiled assuring 'Just go.'

Mirage nodded 'Autobot's let's roll.

While Dogfight carried Cliffjumper in his aerial jet mode, the others all transformed into their vehicle modes and drove through the crowd and into the clearing. Hound transformed into his armored jeep mode and drove in the opposite direction; he fired his mounted missile to scatter the rioters around him and pressed on until he found himself at the Velocitronian Circuit.

Within Override was on her knees, the revelation of what she had done was staggering.

'Oh god, what have I done.'

A dark figure emerged from the flames, it was Hotshot.

'Override' he croaked 'We need to leave, _now!'_

She shook her head weakly 'No, I can't, I just… can't-'

'What do you mean?' Hotshot managed to help the racer to her feet 'If you stay here we'll lose you too, and we can't have that'

She held out her arms as if to catch a falling object 'Please Hotshot, just look at- at what I've done'

Hotshot rubbed the arch of his nose 'It isn't your fault, what happened, happened, there is nothing we can change about that, for now let's just get a move on before this place comes down.'

She shook her head grimly 'I don't deserve this… any of this.'

Hotshot began walking her towards the exit. A wave of pain shot through his leg with every step he took.

'Primus I wish this was easier…'

Hound burst through the flames in vehicle mode and drifted to a halt

'You rang?'

Hotshot chuckled at the convenience and placed Override on top of the jeep.

'Take Override, I can drive on my own.'

'Got it.' Hound made sure Override was secure and drove towards the exit.

Hotshot transformed into his sports car mode and drove closely behind Hound. Minutes after they left, the Velocitronian circuit had collapsed.

* * *

_Nemesis_

Needlenose walked proudly next to Spinister, he carried the last known alien data signature on the ship in a cage and joyfully shook it around.

'I'm telling you man, Slipstream is going to award us big time for making this catch'

'And… how do you suspect she will be awarding us?' asked Spinister

Needlenose gave Spinister a look that said "are you an idiot" and laughed

'Energon of course, loads of Energon, and cy-gars! Y'know what I'm saying right, something reminiscent of a hero's welcome of course.'

They entered the med bay with the prisoner

'Heyoooo check out what we got!' exclaimed Needlenose

'We found the last signal on the ship' said Spinister plainly

Slipstream rushed over to them and high fived Needlenose 'Great! Now who is this you've got here.' She examined the cage to find a small purple cassetticon reminiscent of a bat.'

'Senator Ratbat at your service ma'am'

She tapped at the cage curiously 'Senator Ratbat huh, haven't heard that name in a long time.'

With a grin she opened the cage in which the metallic bat ascended to the ceiling and dug his talons into the metal allowing him to perch.

'What is it you wish from me?' asked the upside down bat.

Slipstrea dropped her marvel and became stern. 'Are you the one sending our coordinates to the Novacon?'

Ratbat snarled spewing oil from his mouth. 'I must say I am genuinely insulted by this accusation, I would have you know that I was willing to sacrifice hundreds of troops, just to end the Novacon war.'

'Hah, well that's funny, because you are the only one left on the ship that isn't in this room besides Thundercracker and Starscream, and there is still a signal being sent out to the Novacons as we speak.'

'Slipstream' Soundwave spoke humbly yet in a disappointed tone 'I am afraid that Ratbat is not a Novacon conspirator, he has been in stasis before he could ever get the chance to ally with anyone, I saw to that.'

'Ahh.' Slipstream made a beeline for the containment room and began entering the unlock code.

'Excuse me for a second.' Slipstream shut the door behind her and took a deep breath.

From outside, the decepticons watched as she broke into frustration and started hitting the walls, then the chairs, then the walls with the chairs. Screaming every curse word she knew, she remained oblivious to the fact that the Decepticons could still see her through the glass.

'FRAG,SHIT,COG,DITCH, DAMNIT, PISTON, JOYSTICK,SUCKING, F**KING, BALLJOINT-'

'She seems angry' muttered Demolishor to Thrust

'Yeah she really doesn't like having things kept under her nose like this does she?'

'Who does?'

Triggerhappy approached the two with a wave 'Hey guys, do you know how the others are doing, the ones that were hurt when they fought with Grimlock I mean.'

'Oh, Demolishor is all fine and dandy right here' motioned Thrust to the tank'And Quake and Ramjet are nearing recovery, Slugslinger is also doing better from what I've heard.'

'Oh really? That's great, y'know it really is great that people are getting proper medical attention'

'Yeah I-'

'Unlike me… because I AM STILL ON FIRE YOU MONSTERSSS!'

Triggerhappy turned around to reveal that his back was still in flames from Grimlock's attack.

'What the- how?!'

The Targetmaster began running around the med-bay with a flaming back as Demolishor and Thrust chased after him.

Inside their cell, the Autobot's watched.

'What do you see?' asked Blaster

Rewind brought his face away from the keyhole and paused

'People on fire, robot bats, several Decepticons wandering about, and a very energetic young femme in containment.'

'What are the Decepticons doing?' asked Steeljaw

'Nothing much… just standing around… talking.'

'Mhm, what are they talking about?' asked Blaster eagerly

'Something about a traitor on board? Someone who is broadcasting their location to- to Novacons I think.'

'Novacons?' Grimlock grumbled to himself 'I thought they dead long ago.'

Rewind lifted an index finger 'Not all, some were thought to have run away, but by the looks of it, it seems to be sent to a very powerful Novacon, possibly the leader.'

'The leader?' asked a shocked Ramhorn 'but didn't the leader die long ago from… what did the official reports say... died of poisoning?'

'Official report- my aft.' said Grimlock gruffly 'I was there, during war, what me saw was no poison, me saw Leader perish from massive gun.'

Rewind looked puzzled 'A gun?'

'Yes, large gun appeared from the sky and shot big laser onto him, created the sonic canyons.'

Rewind rubbed his chin 'Fascinating, I had always heard the rumors but…'

The small cassettebot stopped and snapped his fingers 'That's it!'

'What is?' asked Blaster

'I can access the original manifest from this ship's databanks and see who the supposed Novacons are on the ship.'

Eject rolled his hand in a circular motion 'Sooo that means…'

'I should be able to find out which of these Decepticons bunked with the others _after_ the Nemesis took off.'

'No!' snapped Grimlock 'We not going to help Decepticons!'

Rewind waved his hands in surrender 'we don't have to help them, I am just curious as to who is pulling the stunt here.'

Grimlock turned his head away and growled in approval.

'Okay, so should I-'

'Do it.' ordered Blaster

'Alright just a sec…'

The hardware within Rewind's body whirred and clicked until a hacking frequency emitted from his chest, meeting with the Nemesis' database. In moments Rewind had downloaded the entire crew list and stored it safely into his processor.

A list of names paired with faces appeared in the corner of his optics. He soon mouthed the names of each Decepticon as they appeared in alphabetical order.

_Barricade, Blast Off, Bonecrusher, Brawl, Breakdown, Bruticus, Buzzsaw, Demolishor, Direct-Hit, Dirge, Dragstrip Fireshot, Flatline, Frenzy, Groundhog, Half-track, Hook…_

'Anyone in there that shouldn't be?' asked Steeljaw

'What it matter?' asked Grimlock 'We going to kill them anyway.'

…_Laserbeak, Megatron, Meltdown, Misfire…_

Ramhorn shuffled against the wall and glared at Grimlock uncomfortably 'Y'know, I aint one to care too much about grammar, but yours is just terrible, you should try learning some proper Cybertronian, it aren't that hard you know?'

'Blaster.'

The Autobot craned his head around to face Rewind 'Did you find who it is?'

'While the special teams and Megatron are seemingly missing, it appears that there is someone in that room who's face doesn't match the manifest.'

Blaster peered into the keyhole and spotted dozens of Decepticons wandering about, while some he recognized immediately such as Demolishor, Soundwave and Skywarp, others he had only set his optics on recently such as Dirge, Misfire and Triggerhappy.

'You can really tell apart?' asked Grimlock

'Yup and I should be able to match their face with my database and find some past details. Now let's see here, searching database with a picture of the cons face and… one result.'

Rewind went quiet.

'What?' Eject shook the cassettebot by the shoulder 'C'mon tell us who it is.'

Rewind began to shake his head ever so slowly 'God…'

'What?!' Bellowed Grimlock

He sprang to his feet 'We need to get out of here, NOW!'

'What?!' Grimlock repeated himself

Rewind was frantically scrambling across the floor, trying to escape from his bonds.

He began muttering to himself 'You don't understand, this goes beyond us, beyond everything, we need to warn the Decepticons or else everyone on this ship is going to die!'

Blaster placed both hands onto Rewind's shoulders and lifted him to his feet. He spoke in a soft voice

'Rewind, I need you to calm down and tell me something, who is it, who is the one that is broadcasting the Nemesis' location?'

Blaster could feel Rewind trembling beneath the palms of his hands as he asked the question.

'It's-'

_Outside the Cell_

'YOU!'

Starscream and Thundercracker stood in the doorway to the medical bay; Starscream was pointing a finger across the room at a certain Decepticon. On closer inspection the seeker was trembling all over.

'You- YOU!' he shrieked hoarsely.

'You are the one! You are the same Novacon, the one that was staring at me back during the end of the Nova war!'

* * *

_Velocitron_

After twenty minutes of shooting at each other from behind the wreckage of the great hall, Brakedown stood up and disabled all of his weaponry, allowing it all to fall to the floor with a clang.

'Now look here Meister, I don't want there to be any misunderstandings between us, I liked torturing your friends, it was _lovely _but if you don't just kill yourself right now, I will have to go over there and do the same to you.'

Jazz sprang up from behind the curled metal and put pressure onto his chest from beneath his finger tip causing his armor casing to open up and fall apart.

'Then why don't we do this the old fashioned way then?'

Jazz managed to do a front flip over Brakedown (for style) and elbowed him in the back, the more experienced bot countered with a kick to the shin followed by a barrage of brutal punches.

'I love it!' exclaimed Brakedown.

As the two fought Jazz's mind began to flow away like a moving tide. He wondered if the others got to safety yet, surely they have. He also wondered if they had left without him. No. They wouldn't, not that he would mind, but he knew them too well, they would wait.

Brakedown managed to get his hands around Jazz's throat as he held him to the ground.

'You see, this is what I don't understand about you bad guys.' He spoke as he slammed a fist into Jazz's face 'You always try to ruin our grand designs and yet you will always fail, why?'

Jazz kicked Brakedown's stomach sending him a few meters back.

Brakedown cracked his neck 'Because good always triumphs over evil of course.'

Jazz jumped in the air and did a kick against Brakedown's skull followed by another jab at the gut.

'We are not the evil ones here'

'But of course you are!' Brakedown mused 'You see, the villains always come up with a plan, or a super weapon that can further their victory, on the other side all the heroes do is sit around and wait for a problem to arise before dealing with it. The heroes never take the first punch, unlike you.'

Jazz grabbed Brakedown and slammed him into a large plexi-glass window that overlooked the burning city underneath the crimson sky.

'Look at this, can you not see the chaos you have caused?' asked Jazz wildly

'Now don't be so negative Meister, I see this as a fresh starting point.'

Jazz gritted his teeth and slammed Brakedown's head into the window creating a web of cracks.

'You are no better than Razorclaw.'

'Who?'

'Predacon, pupil of Shockwave, you have probably met once before'

'Hmm I'm sorry Meister but I am afraid you will have to go into better detail than that.'

He threw Brakedown onto his back and aimed a rifle at the elderly bot's head.

'More important things first Brakedown, my name is Jazz! Don't you forget it.'

Brakedown clapped his hands 'Ah yes, I love it, right out of the movies, there's only one problem with this whole performance.'

Jazz kept his scope trained in between the Velocitronian's optics. 'And that is?'

'You can't kill me' Brakedown crawled closer to Jazz 'Executing an unarmed combatant in cold bloodgoes against everything you supposedly stand for; doing so will only prove that you really are the villain.'

Jazz lowered his rifle and turned his back on Brakedown.

'You are right; I can't kill you, not like this…'

Brakedown smiled and reached for his blaster 'Excellent.'

'But they can.'

Brakedown paused 'What?'

The wall was blown open and five guns slinging Stunticons barged in.

Jazz flashed a grin before shattering the glass of the window pane and grappling out of the great hall.

'There he is!' yelled the Stunticon Breakdown 'That's the one who stole my name!'

In moments, Brakedown was surrounded by the Stunticons

'None of this is my fault Jazz do you hear me!?'

Motormaster grabbed his legs while Wildrider and Deadend grabbed him by the arms

'All of this is the cause of you, you are the chaos bringer not me!' Brakedown continued to yell at the broken windowpane as Motormaster tore off his legs.

'What we had was legitimate peace! What is wrong with that, why must we all participate in a war that isn't ours!?'

Wildrider proceeded to tear off Brakedown's right arm yet the Velocitronian made no response.

'WHY MUST YOU PROTECT THESE ANIMALS?!'

The Stunticon Breakdown unsheathed his blade

'There's only room for one of us.'

He proceeded to sliced at Brakedown's neck from the throat to the nape until his head was fully decapitated from its body.

'What makes an angel of peace a villain I'd like to kn-'

Suddenly Brakedown came to understand what was going on. As the other Stunticons tore his body to shreds, Dragstrip had aimed a rifle at his bodyless head.

'N-'

In a moment, a large gaping hole replaced where Brakedown's face was. The Stunticons continued to beat his body even after velocitronian's life had ended.

* * *

_Nemesis_

Slipstream looked from Starscream to Spinister and back again.

'Really, Spinister?'

'Yes!' snapped Starscream 'I couldn't forget his face anywhere!'

Thundercracker shook Starscream by the arm

'Starscream, I know what you are saying but it can't be Spinister, he's been with us for…'

'That's it isn't it? When have we _ever _seen him on the Nemesis- no, when have we ever seen him in the Decepticon army before you left through the spacebridge.'

'You need to listen to yourself Starscream, there are_ thousands _of Decepticons, it is expected for someone not to know every single other combatant.'

'Thundercracker look at me, do I look like I am lying?'

The seeker looked at his former partner in the eyes and felt them simmering with rage.

'I know you seem determined about this but it's just-'

'Just… Spinister of all bots' Slipstream interrupted 'Broody, Emo, annoying, nerdy, stupid, video gaming, Spinister? Sorry but I don't think so, I just don't see it. I mean, there's no way this guy could possibly have been a Novacon this whole entire time.'

She turned to Needlenose reassuringly

'Needlenose, you are Spinister's partner, you know for certain that he is innocent right?'

He made no response

Slipstream eyed him curiously 'Needlenose?'

Skywarp walked into the med bay with a look of worry on his faceplate

'Hey has anyone seen Doggy around? I can't seem to find… him.'

Skywarp craned his head to each con in the room, from Thrust, to Soundwave, to Cyclonus, to Spinister.

'Wait…' he could feel the tense atmosphere within the facility 'What's going on…?'

Spinister grabbed Skywarp by the neck and aimed a riot cannon at the seeker's head.

'NOBODY FRAGGING MOVE OR THE SEEKER GETS IT!'

Misfire, Triggerhappy, Demolishor, Soundwave, Frenzy, Slipstream, Thrust, Dirge, Flatline, Cyclonus and Starscream, all raised their blasters on the Novacon.

'Wait!' Thundercracker waved his hands in a calming manner

'Nobody shoot, Skywarp is in the way.'

'Everybody shoot, it's just Skywarp that's in the way.' Ordered Slipstream

'No!'

The Decepticons all opened fire on the Novacons but before the bullets could connect, a wave of gold light stopped them in their tracks. The light was emerging from the palm of Needlenose's hand. One bullet managed to pass through and blow off Spinister's faceplate revealing a wide Novacon smile beneath.

'You never expected there to be two Novacons on board did you?' said Needlenose smugly

With a wave of his hand the bullets were shot back at the barrels that had fired them causing each of the Decepticon's guns to explode.

'Pathetic…'

'Flatline, Cyclonus, Thrust…' Slipstream addressed the bots with the wave of her hand 'get Slugslinger, Quake and Ramjet out of the med bay'

Flatline extended his arms and pulled out Slugslinger while Cyclonus and Thrust pulled in Quake and Ramjet.

As Quake was trolleyed out of the room he tilted his head weakly and looked Spinister in the optics.

'Spinister… Why?'

'We are following orders from our master… our still living master…'

Sparks danced around Needlenose's fingers as he spoke 'The Novacons will rise from their graves and further our evolution to the next level. Our race will become an artistic masterpiece of the likes the Universe has only witnessed in the moments of its birth.'

Spinister pressed the bunt of his gun against Skywarp's temple 'Orders for our mission were rather clear, it was to infiltrate the ship and kidnap one of the following Decepticons; Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, or Slipstream.'

'The Seekers?' asked a startled Demolishor

'Correct' answered Needlenose 'Or more specifically, the ones who were present during our leaders temporary defeat.'

He chuckled behind his faceplate

'You see we are in need of something that the seekers own, it isn't something we could just ask for of course' he leaned towards the decepticons and tapped the side of his head with his index finger. 'It is something that is inside their heads after.'

The Decepticons took a moment to look within their ranks and observe Slipstream, Thundercracker and Starscream trying to blend in amongst the crowd.

'That's right; there are things that your elite flying corps doesn't like to say out loud. Anyways we ought to be on our way, Spinister had already scanned the ship's schematics and found that –like the Ark- your medical facility has the ability to change into an escape craft as well, convenient isn't it? It ought to be, we've been luring you all in here just so that we have the chance to capture one of you and make the escape. Now then, soon enough we will have exactly what we need to-'

The wall separating the medical facility and the containment cell was blown open as a large metallic Tyrannosaurus smashed through and tackled Needlenose into the adjacent wall.

Blaster and the others came following from behind all brandishing Energon blades.

'Alright team; let's do what we do best.' exclaimed Blaster

'We can't!' said a hesitant Rewind 'You don't understand what we're dealing with; we need to escape while we still can!'

'C'mon Rewind' said Ramhorn as he charged at Spinister 'grow some -hrrk-'

With the raise of an eyebrow, Spinister sent over a hundred volts of electricity through the cassettebot's body sending him into stasis.

'What? Now that's a damn penalty.'

As Eject charged forward, large weapons erupted from Spinisters shoulders and blasted the cassetticon out of the Med bay.

Gathering Ramhorn, Rewind turned his attention to his comrades.

'Blaster, Steeljaw, we gotta go!'

'Not today man!' Blaster sliced at Spinister continuously with an Energon blade but a seemingly magnetic force kept propelling him back. 'Damn Novacon, would you just-'

'Need projectile!' roared Grimlock as his throat began to light up a heated red.

His Jaws began to rotate and his optics glowed as a wave of flames torched the ground where Spinister and Skywarp were.

'I'm with you Rewind' exclaimed Steeljaw 'let's get out of here.'

The flames dispersed and Spinister stood unscathed with a slightly torched Skywarp still in his hands.

'You really think it is that easy?'

Needlenose freed himself from the wall and approached Grimlock from behind.

'Grimlock!' called Blaster 'Needlenose is behind you, move!'

But the Dinobot wasn't listening, he was still trying to singe Spinister who blocked all of the attacks with a light force field standing in front of him and Skywarp

'Grimlock!'

'He can't here you' said Rewind 'Soundwave blew his audio receptors remember?'

'It's funny' remarked Needlenose as he cracked his neck back into place 'You all seem to forget what the Novacons are really like.'

Needlenose sent a wave of electricity from his fingertips which completely engulfed the Dinobot.

Grimlock let out a roar of pain as he was forcibly transformed back into his robot mode in a step by step process.

'I must say you are a fun one to play with, not many times do I get to undergo forced transformation with a beast.'

The electricity moved on from Grimlock and attacked Blaster forcing him into his Boom-Box mode

'Now then, begone!' Spinister activated his magnetic prowess and sent both Dinobot and Autobot crashing through the walls of the med bay and back into the ship

Thundercracker took a step forward from the crowd 'How can you-?'

'Use our mental capacity's to form matter? Why my dear Thundercracker while you spent thousands of years fighting your own war, we've been evolving even further, we can do things that you couldn't even comprehend now.'

'No…'

Dirge was trembling as he drew closer to the Novacons. A thick red liquid was dripping from his optics.

'You can't'

'Mm?'

Dirge walked as if he were a zombie

'You can't hurt us… you can't hurt her…'

He fell to the floor as red and black foam began pouring out of his mouth.

'YOU CAN'T HURT HER, YOU CAN'T HURT OUR GODDESS!'

Slipstream brought a hand to her mouth

'Oh no…'

Dirge was screaming as he lay on the floor.

'She is one of the creators… she is a- a wicked storm of colour and ferocity… she is… LOVE!'

Thundercracker grabbed Dirge and slapped him across the face only to find the luster in his optics dull to fades of grey.

The blue seeker turned his head to Slipstream

'What the hell was that?'

'Sparkmeal psychology' she answered ashamed 'I managed to use it on him so that he wouldn't pull a gun on me again, I'm sure he has mentioned to you how he has been feeling around me? Anyways the fact that it hasn't been used for so long and the recent… events… well it is understandable as it could lead him to this.'

Thundercracker threw the cone head aside and took another step forward

'So what's next?!' he yelled balling his fists 'you kidnap one of us and for what?! You have all the power you want to conquer a galaxy, so why do you need us?'

'No telling.' Muttered Spinister

'But why?! What does your leader want, why take Skywarp?! If you really need someone to take with you don't take him. Take Me! I-'

He felt a warm hand squeeze his shoulder and turned around.

'Slipstream…' he looked passed her shoulder to see that the medical bay was now empty besides Him, the Novacons, Skywarp, Slipstream, Starscream, and Soundwave who watched from the doorway. The other decepticons had run away in fear already.'

'Thundercracker we need to go.'

'What?' he looked at the doorway to spot Rewind and Steeljaw retreating with their wounded comrades and looked back.

'You don't mean…'

Slipstream pushed Thundercracker aside to face the Novacons.

'Go now, we understand your strength and are willing to let you leave with your hostage.'

Spinister's grin broadened 'Thank you.'

'What?' Thundercracker panicked 'NO!'

Slipstream restrained Thundercracker while Soundwave and Starscream dragged Dirge out of the med bay.

'NO! We can't just let them take Skywarp!' Slipstream began dragging him away from the scene, just as she did from Orion Pax all those centuries ago.

'Thundercracker…' As Skywarp spoke Thundercracker stopped resisting Slipstream's pull and was soon outside the medbay.

Skywarp was smiling, but Thundercracker didn't feel relieved, it was a sad smile, a scared smile.

'…I'll be fine, take care of Doggy while I'm gone okay?'

'Skywarp we'll get you safe we'll-'

The Medbay doors slammed shut and Thundercracker felt himself pressing himself against the glass that separated the facility from the hallway.

He saw Skywarp's smile for half a second before the entire med bay ejected from the side of the ship and morphed into a spacecraft.

The seeker let out a high pitched scream as the ship housing the two Novacons and his best friend disappeared into the blackness of space leaving nothing but a vapor trail.

* * *

_Velocitron_

Mirage waited outside the ship with Hotshot and Override. Windcharger and Swerve were already at the controls, awaiting the order to blast off.

'I don't think he's coming.' said Mirage grimly

'We aren't having this conversation right now Mirage, he's coming and you know it,'

Mirage rubbed the arch of his nose and turned his back to the pair.

'You know what? It's been a hell of a day today and I think that for the first time in a while, I'm tired. So you can wait out here on this dying planet and we'll wait. But if- _when _the entire riot comes crashing through here, we are taking off no matter what, there is no negotiation there.'

Hotshot nodded 'Alright…' he wandered around the site and watched the city as the flames grew and reached the smoky crimson sky above. 'I can get behind that'

'Hey guys…'

The two bots turned their attention to Override who was pointing at the horizon where the silhouette of a car speeding towards them.

'Is that him?' asked Hotshot

Override shook her head 'No, I would know that shape anywhere'

The figure transformed and jogged up to the Launchpad

'Backstreet.' Mirage addressed with little concern 'You're okay.'

'Yeah' the orange and black Velocitronian replied, his hands were on his knees and he was panting vigorously. 'I started driving the minute I got your message; it's a bloody warzone out there, bots killing bots, sort of like the war stories you used to tell me.'

'How'd you get out?' asked Mirage

'Once they knew I was a mole the guards were on my tail, the minute I got outside however, well, let's just say the riot managed to tear them a new one, allowing me to escape.'

'Wait' Override approached Backstreet cautiously, He had been her bodyguard/secretary for most of her life yet not once did she consider him to be anything close to sinister. She wasn't sure whether she was to be relieved that he was never on Brakedown's side, or disappointed that he lied to her about who he was.

'Mirage mentioned that you were spying in on Velocitron's leaders' she said plainly 'does this mean-'

'That I was an assassin, no.'

Override waved a hand in denial 'No not that, does it mean that you were – that everything you said was just an act?'

Backstreet smiled warmly as he spoke 'No, Everything I said to you about my life outside of being a mole was the truth, I never changed anything about how I act or how I look.'

Override felt her excitement escalate as he spoke 'Then that means-'

Backstreet placed a hand on her shoulder

'I've always cared about you Override, always.'

Override smiled in relief

'Backstreet… Thank you.'

Backstreet nodded and snapped his fingers in realization

'Oh that's right; I brought a little something with me.'

Holo keys lit up on Backstreet's wrist as he began tapping in commands.

In moments Jazz materialized next to him covered in wounds.

'Jazz!' Hotshot rushed over to him helping him up.

The two of them shook hands violently as Backstreet cleared his throat

'I found him getting beaten by the crowd and dropped a cloaking device next to him on my way out, he managed to get away just fine I think.'

'I did.' said Jazz 'and I really appreciate it.' He looked past the Velocitronian and spied Mirage

'Mirage, get Backstreet fixed up and tell Swerve to start the countdown'

'What about you?' he replied curtly

'I'll be just a sec. Go.'

Mirage shrugged and motioned Backstreet over to him.

The bodyguard nodded at Override once before following Mirage into the ship.

'Now then.' Jazz made his way towards Hotshot 'get in the ship and tell them to launch, I'm staying here.'

Hotshot stared at Jazz blankly; he made no response to the spec-ops agents order.

'Hotshot, did you hear me?'

He still made no response.

'I'll stay too' said Override 'I'm the former leader of this planet and I will bring it back to a world of peace, real peace mind you'

Jazz nodded 'Very well.' He paused before turning back to her 'Former?'

'You and Hotshot passed the finish line before I did.'

'But I wasn't a part of that race…' replied Jazz skeptically

'No, but Hotshot was.'

This peaked Hotshot's attention

'It may have been with your help, but remember, the race has no rules, past leaders have won in ways worse than having help from a faster racer on the track, you weren't a participant so you didn't win, Hotshot on the other hand-'

'I see' Jazz interrupted 'anyways we should get ready to fight; the riot will spread here any minute, Hotshot.'

The bot nodded to him 'Tell Mirage he's in charge until you find Silverbolt and Perceptor, tell Cliffjumper he's ready and tell Wheeljack he can have my CD's, I'm afraid I won't be coming back to see them.'

_Lift off in 10…_

'You will.' Replied Hotshot.

_9…_

Jazz chuckled 'See that's what I've always liked about you Hotshot, you always focus on the positives.

_8…_

'No I mean you will be seeing them now.'

_7…_

Jazz's expression dropped 'What?'

_6…_

Hotshot held out his hand and in moments Jazz was lifted off the ground. Hotshot had activated the small bit of power Windcharger's had loaned him.

_5…_

'I'm sorry Jazz…'

_4…_

'Don't do this…' Jazz struggled in the air

_3…_

'…but you are far more valuable to the Autobot army than I am'

_2…_

'Hotshot please…'

_1…_

'I'm sorry, goodbye.'

_0…_

Hotshot flung Jazz into the ship with his magnetism and shut the door. Jazz could feel his chest hit the ground and leaped up in shock, by the time he had rushed over to the exit, the ship was already off the ground.

'NO!'

He watched the images of Hotshot and Override standing amongst the sandy dunes at the launch site disappear as the ship ascended farther away from the planet.

Mirage placed a hand on Jazz's shoulder from behind, he was standing next to Windcharger

'I really am sorry about this.'

The two were left to watch the planet as Velocitron burned.

* * *

_Please R&R_

_(Reuse and Recycle)_


	26. Speed Planet Epilogue: What a Lie

_AN: I should be working on something right now... but I needed to finish this. I've also been busy sobbing from More than meets the eye 16..._

* * *

A single round Plexiglas window on a sealed hatch, his hands were pressed to either side it as he watched his friend, possibly his best friend, move farther and farther away from him, or was it them flying farther away from him? He wasn't sure, his mind wasn't together at the moment, it was far from "together" it was a mess of mesh and wiring containing neurons and chemical compounds and electrical surges powering his entire body. It was allowing him to know precisely what was going on and why it was happening, but he didn't know why this time, he wanted to know why, but he just couldn't understand it. A hand gripped onto his shoulder and he turned around.

'I really am sorry about this.'

Slipstream said before swinging her fist across Thundercracker's skull knocking the Seeker into stasis. The femme raised her head from Thundercracker's body and looked up at Starscream who looked as if he could barely fathom what was happening.

'What are you looking at?' she spat

Starscream shook his head and jogged down the corridor.

Slipstream leaned on the nearest wall and rubbed her optics with her finger and thumb.

'Soundwave'

The Communications officer remained standing, waiting for a response.

'Go put some stasis cuffs on Grimlock and put him away somewhere, anywhere and send Misfire and Triggerhappy to round up the other Autobots.'

He nodded and made his way down the hallway.

Slipstream pulled Thundercracker to his feet and carried the knocked out bot down the opposite direction.

* * *

_The Velocitronian ship_

Jazz pressed Mirage against the wall as Windcharger watched nervously from the sidelines.

'You did this?!' he asked enraged 'You had Windcharger give his magnetic power to Hotshot because you _knew _he wouldn't let me stay without him.'

Windcharger squeezed between them and tried to break the two of them apart.

'Look guys, what's done is done, let's just forgive and-'

'Forget?!'

Jazz pushed Windcharger off and away from him 'You are just as guilty as he is, how could you even _think_ to do this?'

Mirage stepped forward slightly raising his voice

'This was planned in advance, we couldn't have-'

'You don't get it, do you, you really don't know what you've done, you killed Hotshot just now, without me down there Hotshot and Override will di-'

'It was Hotshot's idea!'

Jazz shut his mouth immediately.

'Before he went to find Override he asked me to make sure you escaped the planet, I told him about Windcharger and he decided that when it came to the point, Windcharger would drag him into the ship, only-'

'Only I thought he should have done it himself' finished Windcharger 'it was his idea, I thought he should have carried through with it.'

Jazz backed a step away from the two 'I- I don't- why?'

'The universe needs Jazz more than Hotshot' said Mirage 'That's what Hotshot said.'

Jazz turned his head back towards the window and watched an explosion appear on the face of the planet. Velocitron was beginning to look more and more like how Cybertron did; post core shutdown.

Without a word Jazz marched down the halls of the ship and out of Mirage's view.

Mirage looked down at Windcharger and sighed 'I have someone I need to speak with, go mingle with the others or something.'

'Is that an order?'

'Well if you're going to put it that way Screw off'

* * *

In the control room Jazz approached Blurr who was at the ships controls merely sitting in his chair while the ship flew on Autopilot.

'Blurr, could you send a message in the overhead speakers to bring everyone together? I need to address the team.'

'Yupsurejutasecondwon'ttakeanytimeatall.'

Blurr held down a button and leaned over the controls 'EveryonepleasecometothemaindeckJazzwouldliketospe aktoyouallaboutsomethingthanks.'

In moments the room was filled with each bot present. The Velocitronians that they had picked up; Mirage, Windcharger, Swerve, Blurr, Backstreet and Dogfight stood on Jazz's right side while the team he had initially landed with; Cliffjumper, Bluestreak, Hound, Wheeljack, Pincher, Grotusque and Arcee entered at his left. The minute Cliffjumper saw Jazz he ran straight towards him embracing him tightly.

'Jazz I- I knew you'd make it out safe, the others were less sure I can tell you but Hotshot was pretty certain you'd be okay' Cliffjumper scanned the room for him and turned back to Jazz 'Say where is the kid, did he go to have a nap the minute he got here or something?'

Jazz ignored his partner and stepped up on a larger platform signalling the others to be quiet.

Once there attention was on him. Jazz clasped his hands together and spent half a minute scanning the faces of each of the bots in front of him before saying a four syllabled sentence.

'Hotshot is dead.'

Jazz shut his optics and listened as the Autobots gasped in shock and sadness

'I know what you are all thinking… heh I just noticed, that phrase is said a lot isn't it? "I know what you're thinking" … what a lie that is… but before anyone speaks up, no there isn't a body and we cannot be a hundred percent sure, but look outside at the planet, see that large orange gash in its crust? That's where we last saw Hotshot. I won't sugar coat it, we lost two bots today and I should have seen it coming. For now what we need to do is press forward and work on finding Silverbolt, Perceptor and the others.'

From the silent crowd, Hound raised his hand.

'Yes Hound?' said Jazz nodding to him.

Hound stood up and climbed onto the higher platform standing next to Jazz. He fiddled with his fingers as he stood in front of the group and shook his head.

'I-I'm sorry Jazz but I feel a bit obliged to say something for Hotshot, it just- I'm sorry but it just feels suitable you know?'

Jazz stepped aside signalling Hound to speak.

'I- thank you, Hotshot was- he was one of our more positive members of our family, always cheerful and upbeat, I don't think we have enough of those around anymore. He managed to bring light into our darkest situations, and while other bots that had lost their innocence from experiencing the terrible pangs of war, Bumblebee, Warpath… Hotshot had experienced the worst of things, he had his whole team wiped out, I'm sure you'd recognise it, he was in the same team as Sideswipe… under Fortress Maximus's command, anyways he is just- was so young and Primus I saw him less than twenty minutes ago you never know how fast something or someone you know can be gone just like that. I'm really not a speaker I admit and I think it might be best for someone else to speak for him but- anyways what I'm trying to say is that I'll miss him and I'm sure I'm not the only one… till all are one.

"_Till All Are One…" _

'Now that the bad news is out of the way, I have some good news, I have come in contact with Ratchet, Perceptor and the others.'

And then, some hope erupted in the sparks of the bots.

'Really?' asked Cliffjumper hopefully 'They're okay? They responded?'

'Yes and no, I managed to get visuals with Huffer and Hubcap, no audio but we traded locations and should be bumping into each other in no time.'

Some slight sighs of relief were heard throughout the room and Jazz stepped forward

'Thank you Hound, and with that, all but Wheeljack and Pincher are dismissed.'

The group dispersed and Jazz made his way towards the scientific duo while Mirage followed Bluestreak into the Hall.

'Bluestreak, hey Bluestreak'

The black and red bot stopped and looked at Mirage blankly.

'What?'

'I think we should talk.'

'Yeah we probably should.'

The two made sure that no one was following them and made their way down to the end of the hall.

'I just wanted to say how sorry I am, for _everything _that I have ever done that had hurt you, and anyone else for the sake of the Decepticons. What I had done was evil and… and I can honestly say that I never enjoyed any of it, nor did I feel like what I did was justified. The only reason I joined the Decepticons in the first place was because the Senate had taken my fortune for the war effort and I just wanted to get back at them I guess… I never really wanted to join a side, I never wanted to go to war, but it was so hard to leave that it wasn't until after I set the bombs- after I had completed my mission was I able to escape. Please Bluestreak, I just want you to know how sorry I am.'

Bluestreak rubbed the side of his helm and stared at Mirage

'Did you pray for the people of Praxus'

Mirage lowered his head 'I haven't, I have never been religious but… if it even remotely makes up for what I've done I will do it.'

'Okay.'

Mirage raised his head in puzzlement 'Pardon?'

'I said okay, I forgive you.'

Mirage stared at Bluestreak, unsure if he truly meant it or not.

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah, is that not what you were expecting?'

'Well… no actually'

The right side of Bluestreak's mouth raised into half a smile

'You don't know much about me do you?'

'Um… no'

'You see I'm something of an Optimist.'

'An Optimus- what?'

'An Optimist, it means I tend to look at the bright side of things, and people too. I don't keep grudges; it just isn't in my personality component. The Autobots need someone like me, what with Bumblebee and Hotshot gone, they need someone positive to be around and honestly, it's practically my job to be the positive one now. When Praxus was destroyed, I had not once thought about getting vengeance on you, the only thing I've ever wished upon the one that destroyed Praxus was that he had regretted his actions. And to be honest, with you it's been a dream come true.'

Mirage mouthed Bluestreak's words

"_A dream come true…"_

'But Bluestreak' he stuttered 'didn't you feel anything for the people that I… that had died, what about them?'

Bluestreak shrugged 'I felt angry, angry and sad. Some of my best friends…Fusion, Skater… they were all wiped out in an instant, I spent the next couple of years staying away from the outside world due to the off chance that I might get close to someone again and that… that I'd lose them too. I've been angry and sad for a while though, not so much anymore though.'

'What did you do?' wondered Mirage 'What happened that made the pain go away?'

Bluestreak's face distorted between a look of regret and childish joy

'Well the pain went away pretty quick after I took it all out on Motorhead and Groundhog.'

'Oh.'

There was a pause

'You don't actually have to pray if you don't want to, I just said that because I was afraid you were going to start begging me to punish you, like with a whip and everything '

Mirage smiled at the joke

'Duly noted.'

Mirage turned to leave but stopped himself.

'Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask Jazz but he seems preoccupied with things at the moment…

'Mhm.'

'I was meaning to ask him what was up with Cliffjumper, whenever he sees me he is always pointing out my Decepticon background, I mean I get it you guys don't like Decepticons but even we- they had some Autobots defect to them and they got over it after a short while.'

Bluestreak nodded in understanding 'Yeah, don't worry about it; Cliffjumper is just trying to compensate.'

'Compensate, for what?'

He chuckled softly 'Now if I told you that, he'd probably have me dead.'

Bluestreak spotted a slight grin on Mirage's lips

'One thing' said Mirage 'Just to make it clear -because I know people will ask- This doesn't mean that I am one of you, an Autobot I mean. When I said I hated the war, I hated both sides. War and me don't really mix so don't be surprised if we never speak again.'

Bluestreak rested his hands behind his head and laughed.

'Well as I've already said, I don't like to make friends, so that suits me fine.'

Mirage stood waiting for something to happen to break the silence until Bluestreak spoke up again

'I see you know some cyber ninja training, I myself learned some great Metallikato from a bunch of videos Whirl once loaned me before the exodus.'

Mirage laughed 'Those crap tapes? Before the war I would just hire a trainer if I wanted to learn something like that.'

'Hah, see back then I was much too poor for that.'

'Really?' Mirage asked legitimately surprised

The two of them spent a moment staring at each other in surprise before breaking into laughter.

* * *

Outside, Jazz was making his way passed the others and towards Wheeljack who appeared to be in a long discussion with Pincher.

'Pincher' Jazz said nodding to the scorpion bot

'Hi.'

Jazz turned to Wheeljack

'Hey Jackie, from what I've heard from Grotusque you've been working on a little something for a while now.'

Wheeljack's optics portrayed a look of legitimate shock 'What? How did he know-'

'I can hear everything!' said Grotusque cheerfully as he passed by 'the earwax in my audio receptors are the only thing that restricts it.'

Wheeljack rubbed his forehead 'We don't even get earwax how does he- never mind, anyways yeah I've been working on something, no it won't hurt anyone and no I am not going to tell you what it is.'

Jazz shrugged 'Ah well it was worth a shot, Primus knows I won't be able to get anything out of you'

Wheeljack grinned beneath his faceplate 'Heh, don't worry I'll show you when it's done.'

Jazz turned his attention to Pincher

'So Pinch, I've been wondering but were you the one who-'

'Yes.'

'…Oh so you _were _the one who sent the video of Clocker's death to me and Hotshot-'

"Hotshot and I"

Jazz frowned 'What? Never mind, anyways I suppose I should either thank you for saving the lot of us or force you to apologize for sending an entire planet down the path of war.'

Wheeljack chuckled and wrapped an arm over Pincher's shoulders 'Heheh you hear that Pinch? You're officially a mass murderer!'

'He learns from the best…' muttered Jazz bringing a hand to his fore head

'Um excuse me?'

Jazz turned around to see Backstreet frantically searching the room for something.

'Backstreet, chill' Jazz said while placing a hand on his shoulder 'What's wrong?'

Backstreet took another second to scan the room before looking to Jazz

'Have you seen Override? I haven't seen her anywhere, maybe she's in bed?'

Jazz was shocked still

…_I'll stay too, I'm the former leader of this planet and I will bring it back to a world of peace, real peace mind you…_

He still didn't know.

* * *

'C'mon that movie was great!' argued Bluestreak 'The special effects were absolutely perfect!'

'It's not all about special effects' retorted Mirage 'From an entertainment perspective it was good but from an artistic perspective it was crap.'

Bluestreak rolled his optics 'You sure do like to call everything crap don't you?'

'What?! Not true, there are lots of things I don't think are crap, like warm organically grown oil in the morning, and hunting practices and-'

Mirage paused

'What is it? Ran out of things that aren't crap Mirage?' joked Bluestreak.

Mirage shook his head 'Nah it's not that, I just remembered I was meaning to ask Red Alert about something is all.'

'And what reminded you of that?' wondered Bluestreak

A rustling sound from the corner of the hallway answered Bluestreak's question. Red Alert was digging through a trash bin on all fours.

'Oh'

Bluestreak patted Mirage on the back and continued down the hallway 'I'll leave you to it then, yeah?'

Mirage nodded and waved 'Yeah, later Bluestreak.'

The black and red bot waved back before disappearing behind a corner.

'Hey Red?' Mirage said while watching the bot ruffle through the garbage bin

'Mhm?' echoed the bot

'You seem like a smart bot'

'Mhm'

'I was wondering if you think removing my hood was the right thing to do.'

Red Alert removed himself from the trash can revealing his entire upper body to be covered in grime. He sat cross legged looking up at Mirage.

'Well why do you ask? Do you think it was wrong?'

Mirage stared at the black and green grime and loose sheets of metal that hung off Red Alert before answering

'Um, sorry, I don't really know, I mean I'm afraid the others don't trust me now that they know I was with the Decepticons at one point.'

'Bluestreak trust's you.'

'Yeah but that's-'

'_I _trust you.'

'Yeah but… really?

'Uh huh.'

Mirage crossed his arms and stared skeptically at the grease covered Autobot as green liquid dripped from his arms.

'Wait but I thought you said you don't trust anybody?'

He shrugged 'I mistrust some people less than others, besides, when it comes to people mistrusting you just remember, everyone is a little paranoid, there is no need to be worried about it.'

'Oh um, thanks.'

Red stood up causing more of the dirt, grime and garbage to cover his body.

'C'mere' he said with open arms

Mirage took a step back and stared at the ceiling

'Um thanks but no thanks, I don't really hug.'

'Nah it's fine' said Red 'We all need a hug sometimes.'

Mirage examined the grease from the trash can as it dripped from Red's arms

'No really I'd prefer not to.'

'C'mere you.'

Red approached Mirage as he kept stepping back

'No, No, NO!'

Red Alert forced Mirage into a bear hug causing the blue bot to wince.

'There, not so bad is it?'

Mirage could feel the grease and the garbage stick to him as he was held close, ruining his polished frame. It was nothing in comparison to the strong odor which stung his nasal circuits.

'Oh… god.'

He wouldn't smell normal for weeks.

* * *

During their assault on Brakedown's forces, the Velocitronians under Mirage's command would use the funds from the bar to add to their arsenal and to keep their bots energized. It was also how they managed to buy the ship as well. It was expensive but Swerve had managed to buy a ship with all the major needs, an Energon distillery, a medical bay with repair rays equipped, and -according to Windcharger- A wide sparring room with enough space to hold a team of bots.

Cliffjumper was thrown into a pillar within the room as Dogfight cracked his knuckles.

'C'mon Cliffjumper, I thought you Autobots were doing this your whole lives?'

The red bot wiped some spilt Energon from his lip and raised his fists.

'That aint all I got Dogfight, check this move out.'

Cliffjumper managed to do a backflip in the air and kicked off the pillar he was thrown into sending him tackling into Dogfight.

The surprised Aerialbot crashed to the ground and shoved Cliffjumper off of him.

A smile came across his lips as he activated his hidden weaponry.

'I bet you didn't expect this.'

Cliffjumper froze 'You wouldn't'

'Try me.'

The horned Autobot began to panic 'Dogfight, you wouldn't, you can't, I thought we were friends.'

Dogfight grinned 'some things are more important than that.'

He clicked the trigger and a barrage of yellow paint pellets struck Cliffjumper sending him to the floor.

'Oh come on!'

Cliffjumper's body was covered from head to toe in yellow paint.

'I thought it was clear that we'd only be doing hand to hand combat!' he said gazing at his body.

Dogfight lifted Cliffjumper to his feet and laughed 'What? You expect me _not _to cover you in paint after being tackled to the ground? Besides there wasn't much else I could do.'

Cliffjumper examined the yellow paint and sighed

'Great… now I look like Bumblebee.'

'Who?'

Cliffjumper lowered his head 'An old friend…'

Dogfight understood and turned away as if to leave Cliffjumper with his thoughts.

'Um… anyways I've got to admit you Autobots are pretty tough, I'm nothing in comparison to what you guys are capable of.'

Cliffjumper began rubbing his shoulder against a pillar, hoping to remove some of the paint by doing so.

'Well to be honest you weren't so bad yourself, had you used actual ammo I probably would've been riddled with holes.'

Dogfight raised his weapons proudly 'Thanks, I've had these guns for as long as I remember.'

'That reminds me…' said Cliffjumper still trying to remove the paint 'What's your story Dogfight?'

Dogfight turned around in surprise 'My what?'

'Your story, you don't seem to know much about us, so where've you been while we were all fighting a war?'

'Oh…' Dogfight brought his hand to his forehead as he tried to think. 'Uh well… my earliest memory is of being in a really warm place… then I remember being alone… then me and another one like me, with the hidden weaponry… Triggercon is what I think Wheeljack called it. Anyways me and my friend left Cybertron for a while upon waking up, then we got separated at one point… and now here I am.'

Cliffjumper tried scraping the paint off of his back 'Huh, really? No other memories than that?'

'Well I landed on some planets here and there, but overall it's just been me drifting around the universe trying to meet up with my bud.'

Cliffjumper stopped scraping and frowned.

'Triggercon?'

'Yeah that's what Wheeljack called me.'

The red Autobot brought his fingers to his lips and hummed as Dogfight's optics brightened

'Oh! Do you know about it? About being a Triggercon?'

'Yeah…' Cliffjumper seemed unsure

'Well… do you know of any others that might be around?'

Cliffjumper shook his head 'The Triggercons were created a long time ago by a scientist for war, part of Cybertronians evolution apparently…'

Dogfight nodded eagerly

'But… for the past thousand years it has been thought that the Triggercons were extinct.'

Dogfight's expression changed from shock, to sadness, to anger, and then sobered.

'So… how did the rest of my kind die?'

'Well. Upon learning of the Novacon leader's death, they all committed a mass suicide.'

* * *

_The Decepticon Scouting Craft_

'So that's who? Barricade, Rollerforce, Groundhog and…'

'Motorhead.'

Breakdown snapped his fingers, right, Motorhead. Almost forgot that one, so four deaths, not bad.'

The Decepticons had no trouble escaping Velocitron; they managed to call in their ship just as they finished killing Brakedown (Of whom Breakdown still despised for having a name so similar to his) choosing to nab the remote controlled scouting ship before Razorclaw had its merits apparently, they just stood outside, called the name they decided to give it (Crack Ship), and hopped on as it dropped from the sky and squished several rioters beneath it.

They were now far outside of Velocitron's atmosphere

'Idiots!' bellowed Motormaster 'Barricade has a higher rank than any of you, his death with mean great punishment for us.'

'Shaddup back there!' yelled Dirtboss over the comms 'I'm trying to drive'

'Ah screw you guys!' said Breakdown as he sat himself next to Dragstrip.

The yellow Stunticon was staring out the Plexiglas window motionless

'Am I right Dragstrip… Dragstrip?'

Dragstrip jolted himself back into consciousness and rubbed his optics

'Sorry what?'

'I was asking if… ah nevermind.'

Dragstrip shrugged and went back to looking out the window.

'Say um… Drag, what're you thinking about?'

His visor lit up upon hearing Breakdown's voice

'Just someone I used to know…'

'Oh… sounds lame.'

Breakdown stood back up and began pacing again. The tight space was making him jittery, he just had to get moving, the minute they would be back on the Nemesis Breakdown would drive around the halls just to burn off some of the tension of being cooped up in such a small space with such a large number of idiots at once.

'Um guys?' Longhaul called from the co-pilots seat. 'I think you better check this out.'

The Stunticons groaned as they stood up and made their war to the front of the ship.

Hook was the first to enter the ship's control room

'What is it?' He asked in an annoyed tone 'You know some people need their beauty slee- oh…'

'What?' growled Motormaster as he entered with Stunticons in tow. 'This better not be to show me another one of those ridiculous pictures depicting alien felines asking for saturated beef again.'

'It isn't that' said Dirtboss 'If you would shuddup for a second and look at the front view screen you would see what we mean.'

The Decepticons all turned their attention to the view screen and frowned

Ahead of them was a hole. A hole in space.

'I don't understand…' said Breakdown nervously 'what is that supposed to be?'

The hole was barely distinguishable with it merely being a round crisp blue ring light rotating against the black void behind it.

'That' said Mixmaster pointing ahead 'Is a very big hole'

'Well no duh Mix' snapped Hook

'No wait…' Scrapper appeared lost in thought as he examined the light that emerged from the circle in space. 'I think I know what this is…'

Longhaul raised a brow 'Really?'

'That…' said Scrapper grimly 'Is a space bridge.'

'HA!' shouted Motormaster

Breakdown could have sworn that Motormaster was saying the word more than actually laughing it.

'A space bridge?' asked Scavenger 'But wasn't the spacebridge destroyed back on Cybertron?'

'Can't be…' muttered Mixmaster 'Shockwave's spacebridge would need another lake full of Energon to work a second time…'

Scavenger pointed a finger at the Bridge

'Well what do you expect we do?'

'What do you think?' spat Motormaster 'We charge into it.'

'Or we could go around it,' suggested Scavenger

'Idiot, we don't know where that will take us' said Dirt Boss to Motormaster

'Then why don't we just go around it?' asked Scavenger

Motormaster growled as he approached Dirtboss 'Well maybe the Nemesis sent the spacebridge to our position so that we don't have to waste fuel.'

'The Nemesis doesn't have that sort of tech on board,' argued Dirtboss 'did you even read the manual?'

'Only Nerds read that!'

'Why don't we go around it?' repeated Scavenger

'What we'll have to do is increase our speed tenfold and shoot right through the ring.'

'Hah, yeah like that will work'

'Around…' said Scavenger

Motormaster and Hook spun their heads around to face the Constructicon

'WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!' they shouted simultaneously

Scavenger lowered his head in submission 'Just… you know…'

He made an O shape with his right hand and pretended his left was the ship. He then moved his left and around the O symbolising the ship moving around the space bridge.

Enraged, Dirtboss opened his mouth to yell and…

* * *

_Moments later_

'Alright time to go around this hole.'

The ship began to rotate sideways. It was Breakdown who noticed something was wrong.

'Um guys… look in the spacebridge for a sec.'

Twelve, red optics moved towards the position of the spacebridge

'What is it now?' asked a bored Dead end.

'The stars are gone.'

'What?'

Breakdown pointed at the spacebridge 'The stars at the other side of the spacebridge have disappeared'

'Huh…' Dirtboss examined the bridge to see that everything was completely black on the other side.

'Well would you look at that, there were definitely stars there a minute ago…'

Scrapper shrugged 'Ah well, we'll worry about that later, right now we need to get back to the Nemesis before- OH MY GOD!'

From the Spacebridge emerged a colossal metal hand reaching towards the ship.

Motormaster grabbed Dirtboss by the shoulders and shook him violently

'GO, HIT THE GAS, FLOOR IT!'

Dirtboss didn't move.

'DIRTBOSS!' Motormaster spun around the chair he sat in to find him with his head lowered and his hands clasped together.

'Primus help me, Primus save me, Primus help me…'

The massive hand grabbed the ship as if it were a toy.

'PRIMUS HELP ME, PRIMUS SAVE ME!'

The ship began to compact as the floor and the ceiling grew closer together

Dirtboss and Motormaster held each other close as the others scrambled around in fear.

Scavenger was the only one who felt strangely relaxed.

Dirtboss screamed

Motormaster screamed

And the hand pulled the scouting ship into the spacebridge.

* * *

_The Velocitronian ship._

Jazz chased Backstreet down the hall as he ran away

'Backstreet wait! Please just listen to me'

'I don't want to hear it!' he called back

'Please' Jazz begged 'I didn't mean for it to happen, I should have told her to get inside the ship before the countdown.'

Backstreet stopped and turned around to face Jazz

'I SAID I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!'

He then threw open the nearest hab-suite and slammed it shut behind him. The sound of the door locking had confirmed Jazz that he had failed. He spent a few minutes listening to the sobs of Backstreet on the other side of the door until he felt his communicator vibrate. He contemplated letting it ring but decided to pick it up anyway in case it were important.

'Yes?'

'Jazz? It's Hound, you should come up here, there's good news.'

'Cool, I'll be up in a bit.'

'and Jazz…'

'Yeah?'

'You are making the right choices.'

The communicator beeped and Jazz stood motionless.

'Thanks Hound…' he muttered to himself before transforming and making his way to the bridge.

As Jazz drove he began to recall Jetfire, and how he had hated outright leadership thrust upon him. Leadership wasn't a gift like it was for the Decepticons, for them leadership meant power, simple as that, for the Autobots leadership was something closer to the responsibility, and the blame, for everything that happens in the army. Leadership was a burden, a curse, and Jazz knew it. He and Jetfire were both good leaders, perhaps even great ones, but neither wanted it and he knew it wasn't out of modesty; it was out of pure selfishness.

Jazz arrived at the bridge to find Hound, Bluestreak, Wheeljack Pincher and Grotusque standing around conversing with each other. Arcee was there too albeit crouching behind a computer monitor.

Hound spotted Jazz from across the room and waved him over

'Hey Jazz, I'm glad you came.'

He nodded 'Glad to be here, so what's up?'

Hound grinned and waved a hand towards the Plexiglas behind him.

A large carrier ship was flying slowly towards them. A small black planet could be seen behind the ship in the distance, Jazz wondered if that was where the ship had come from.

'I take it that's Ratchet and the others?'

'Yup' replied Bluestreak 'Hound managed to get a video message at one point with Audio and everything.'

Jazz looked impressed 'That's good can we get it back on now?'

'In a minute' said Wheeljack spinning a laser pointer around his fingers 'We're waiting for them to call us to ask for permission to board, y'know, regulations and such.'

'Right…' Jazz looked past Wheeljack's shoulder and watched Arcee as she tried to stay hidden behind the monitor.

'What's up with her?' asked Jazz

'Who?' wondered Grotusque

'Ar- wait do I really need to tell you, how many "hers" are on board'

Grotusque began counting on his fingers and stopped after three.

'Wait, is Backstreet a "Her"?'

'She's worried about Ratchet' interrupted Hound 'They left on bad terms remember, and haven't seen each other since… then.'

'I see... best leave her be then yeah?'

Hound shrugged in response.

'Yo guys!' called Windcharger from a terminal 'they're requesting linking video feed with us, accept?'

'Do it' ordered Wheeljack

After a few seconds of nothing but the sound of Windcharger's fingers clicking against the keys, Huffer's image appeared on the vid screen.

'Huffer!' exclaimed Bluestreak 'Good to see you again, how's the rest of the guys?'

Hufer raised his lip and glared at Jazz 'Permission to come on board, we have some wounded…'

Jazz nodded 'Right, we'll prepare the med bay for Ratchet, permission granted, how you doin' Huffer?'

'Feh…'

The minibot terminated the feed.

'…Um guys?' Bluestreak was wringing his hands nervously 'Did anyone else think Huffer seemed a bit grumpier than usual?'

'You can tell a difference?' asked Wheeljack shocked

'Heh I guess so.'

Jazz waved his hands to calm them down 'C'mon guys, we got to give the guys a warm welcome, let's try to be polite for once.'

He turned to Windcharger

'Oh and Wind, call the others up too, they might be happy to see some old faces as well '

'Will do.'

Jazz waited at the side of the airlock as a long passage emerged from the carrier and attached to the Velocitronian ship.

Wheeljack chuckled to himself lightly 'I can't wait to see the look on Perceptor's face when he sees the sword-gun I had equipped.'

He noticed Hound staring at him and tilted his head 'What? It's a gun that shoots swords.'

In moments the airlock opened and figures emerged from it.

Ratchet rushed out pushing out what appeared to be a recharge slab while a group of Cybertronians surrounded it.

'MOVE!' shouted the Chief medical officer.

'What's going on?!' replied Wheeljack

Ratchet appeared to be in a full scale panic as he gripped the edge of the slab.

'No time! Just move!'

Wheeljack tried to distinguish some of the faces that surrounded the slab but could only make out Trailbreaker, Fixit and Gears, the rest were strangers.

'Repair rays!' shouted Ratchet to no one in particular 'We need repair rays!'

Windcharger approached the medic cautiously 'Um yeah we have repair rays down in-'

Ratchet shoved the smaller bot out of the way and kept pulling the slab down the hall.

'Get us there, we need to save him!'

Wheeljack tried to see over the heads surrounding the slab as he ran alongside them but couldn't make out who was lying on it. Something was off though; Wheeljack found that there were less Bots that shouldn't be there than there was that _should _be there but weren't. He began counting the names of those who weren't present.

_Silverbolt, Air Razor, Streetwise, First Aid, Perceptor, Groove, Brawn, Hotspot, Heave, Barrage_

Back in the control room Grotusque rushed over to Repugnus while Jazz barked orders.

The Monsterbot leader was in beast mode albeit barely functional, one of his scythes were missing and his organic skin was torn off from his skull revealing his metal cranium beneath, his right eye was dangling from its socket by a loose techno organic wire.

'Hey Repugnus.' laughed Grotusque 'You look beat; if those Autobots aren't treating you then whoever is on that slab must be half dead.'

Repugnus tried to speak but a high screeching sound erupted from his vocalizer instead.

Grotusque frowned 'Hey… Repugnus, where's Doublecross?'

Outside the ships, the planet behind the Autobots cruiser exploded into a massive fireball.

Repugnus shook his head from side to side.

'Repugnus… what happened?'

A mixture of organic blood and oil began to leak from his mouth in thick foam as Repugnus stopped moving.

'REPUGNUS?!'

As Wheeljack jogged, he then began to wonder if one of them were on the slab before him.

'Ratchet, who is this, who is on the slab and where are the others, where is First Aid, and Silverbolt, and Perceptor, where are-'

'They're gone!'

'What do you mean gone, where are-'

'THEY'RE DEAD WHEELJACK!'

He froze

_Silverbolt, Air Razor, Streetwise, First Aid, Perceptor, Groove, Brawn, Hotspot, Heave, Barrage are all…_

'Then who the hell is so important, that saving his life is that much more-'

Ratchet stopped pushing the slab and punched Wheeljack square in the face sending him to the floor.

'Do you not understand?! We absolutely _have _to save him!'

'Who?!' demanded Wheeljack 'Who is this important that we need to-'

Wheeljack managed to look past Ratchet to see exactly who it was laying on the slab.

He made a sound that he had never made before in his life. It was a mixture between a cry and a laugh and something else in between.

Ratchet brought the inventor to his feet and gripped his shoulders violently.

'Don't you understand?! For the sake of the very existence of the universe and the lives of all sentient beings, we absolutely MUST save him!'

Ratchet pointed at the pristine silver and red bot being carried away on the slab.

'FOR GOD'S SAKE, WE NEED TO SAVE HIM, WE NEED TO SAVE **MEGATRON!'**

* * *

_One week earlier: The Ark_

'So, how are you really?'

'I'm fine Jetfire.'

'You aren't disappointed by how your fight with Razorclaw turned out?'

'Not in the slightest'

Jetfire stared at his feet 'Well you know…'

'Jetfire'

He looked up

'Primus isn't done with me yet, I'm okay with that'

Jetfire smiled

'Good to have you back old friend'

Jetfire arose from his seat 'Sorry I got to go, you know, leader stuff.'

Silverbolt chuckled 'Heh no problem, I won't keep you.'

Jetfire exited the med bay flashing a grin before fully exiting.

* * *

_6 minutes later _

'And I've been thinking, would you like to be a part of the Aerialbots?'

'YES!' she shouted immediately. First Aid immediately looked up from his data pad and shot Silverbolt an awkward glance.

Silverbolt chuckled to himself

'I uh, I mean yes that would be great' she said correcting herself

'Excellent, you should meet with the others, they should be in deck 5. Also, before you go, I would try to stay away from Air raid, he's been sort of edgy lately.'

Air razor nodded and walked out of the room.

'Oh wait! Orange' said Fixit to himself

Silverbolt stood up sending Fixit aback in shock.

'Whoa Silverbolt, no need to so suddenly-'

'I need to go to the cleansing room'

Fixit huffed 'There's no need to be so rude about it…'

Silverbolt made his way into the room and locked the door behind him; the cleansing room was the Cybertronian equivalent to a restroom. Only instead of a toilet you had an oil change station. Like a restroom however it was a place to clean one self and also a place where someone could be alone.

Silverbolt stood in front of the mirror, examining every crack and crevice in his facial structure.

_Primus isn't done with me yet…_

Opening his mouth as wide as he could, he screamed a viscous scream and punched the mirror sending cracks running through it.

He wheezed as he looked at his reflection. His face was now separated and distorted by the cracks webbed out in the mirror. He looked like a monster.

…_What a lie._

* * *

_End of Act 2_

Head count:

Autobots:

_On the Velocitronian ship_: Jazz, Cliffjumper, Arcee, Wheeljack, Hound, Bluestreak, Grotusque, Pincher, Repugnus, Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Gears, Fixit, Huffer, Scattershot, Nosecone, Afterburner, Lightspeed, Strafe, Powerglide, Beachcomber, Chainclaw Hubcap, Cosmos, Seawatch, Red Hot, Stakeout, Phaser, Blast Master, Moonrock, Missile Master, Windcharger, Blurr, Swerve, Backstreet, Dogfight, Mirage.

_On the Nemesis_

Blaster, Rewind, Eject, Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Grimlock, Snarl.

_Cybertron_

Slug

_Unknown:_

Swoop, Ironhide, Warpath, Jetfire, Air Raid, Hotshot, Override, Optimus Prime

Decepticons: Slipstream, Starscream, Thundercracker, Dirge, Cyclonus, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Misfire, Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Ravage, Overkill, Slugfest, Ratbat, Ramjet, Thrust, Vanquish, Direct Hit, Power Punch, Meltdown, Halftrack, Fireshot.

_On the Velocitronian ship: _Barricade, Megatron.

_Unkown:_

Shockwave, Blitzwing, Kickback, Hardshell, Bruticus, Battletrap, Flywheels, Dirt Boss, Hook, Bonecrusher, Scavenger, Longhaul, Scrapper, Mixmaster, Motormaster, Breakdown, Dragstrip, Dead End, Wildrider, Razorclaw, Rampage, Headstrong, Tantrum, Divebomb, Snarler, Catilla, Carnivac, Stranglehold, Octopunch.

Dead:

Motorhead, Groundhog, Rollerforce, Brakedown, Clocker.

* * *

AN: Act 3 will show events that take place at the same time as Act 2 where we will witness what happened to lead Ratchet and the others to where they are now.


	27. Constellations

_**AN: **_Well here it is, the first chapter of the third act/story arc. Well my stress has gone yet somehow I have had more trouble writing this chapter than any other chapter. While I am satisfied with how the last couple of chapters went, I feel I may have made them too good as this one feels lacking in comparison, also, I was originally going to write a tragic Prime fic that would be a 'what if' in which Smokescreen had chosen to become a Prime. I had gone as far as planning a out a rough draft but scrapped it and decided that it would be better to keep on writing After the Fall. If anyone is interested I could send the -sort-of-summary and they can take on the mantle (Not sure if I'm using this phrase right). Anyways let's see, what other news is interesting... oh yeah I put the first chapter of After the Fall in an ebonics translator, died laughing. Well that's all for now, I hope you enjoy this all the same.

* * *

_**Journal entry 001**_

_**Date: 3**__**rd**__** Cycle 978 **_(100 years before the births of Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, and Slipstream.)

'… _Um… hello? Is this thing on…? Wait… why I would ask that, audio recorders don't speak… Do they? Anyways, I've never done this before. My buddy Drift told me that I should summarize my days here in the science vessel, something about doing so helps release my stress… somehow. Well anyways what to talk about, let's see… well my name is Wing, I was born from the Allspark in 2__nd__ cycle 700 and placed in a rather regular laser pointer mode, well technically it is a hover car with a laser pointer appendage that got me in the science caste. They call it triple changing but in reality it is just my car mode facing the other way. Oh yeah, what I do, I work on the science vessel Harmonia where we search for more plausible and efficient ways to mine and find Energon, a rather boring job to be honest… but I suppose it's a living. To be honest there isn't really much else to say, my life isn't all that interesting and well… nothing has really been going on so I'll just end this here…'_

_End Journal entry._

* * *

_The Ark: 7 days before the leave of the Speed Planet, and the kidnapping of Skywarp_

Silverbolt's fist hovered above the shattered glass where it still trembled after the second punch. His knuckles stinging from the glass shards lodged between his servos as his chest expanded and contrasted rapidly. Why did he feel this way?

'Silverbolt?'

The Aerialbot craned his head to find Fixit standing idly in the doorway. The smaller bot stood with one shoulder lower than the other, Silverbolt didn't have to be a doctor to recognize the uneasiness the medic felt.

Fixit's lips curled until his cheeks touched the lower rim of his visor and said,

'Silverbolt, what happened? The mirror…'

'I had an accident!' he spat

He removed his fist from the glass and opened his jaw to apologize, but before he could speak, his jaw had hit the floor breaking it sideways. Stunned how the floor had suddenly shot up at him, he took a minute to rearrange his thoughts and was helped up by an equally frazzled Fixit.

'Silverbolt, get up.'

He had apparently suffered an equal punishment as the arch of his nose was bent upward like that of a swine.

'I think there's-'

'Trouble!'

Beachcomber stood in the doorway panicked

'We're under attack, it's the Decepticons!'

Beachcomber led the two bots back into the medbay as Autobots scrambled over eachother.

'Ratchet!' Silverbolt called out, still limping from his wounds.

'Silverbolt!' a second hit caused the Ark to tilt again sending Beachcomber tumbling over Fixit and Stakeout who had just entered the room for an oil change.

Silverbolt gathered his bearings and grabbed a slab for support. Ratchet approached him while clinging to a slab adjacent to his.

'Silverbolt, are you alright?'

'I'm fine' he replied with a wave of his hand 'Com Jetfire, I'll take the Aerialbots out to fight.'

'You're wounded!' spat Ratchet 'You are still in no position to fight!'

'Shut up! I don't need to hear this scra- whoah!'

Another attack sent the Ark tilting again sending Gears skimming over Silverbolt's had and into Huffer sending the two tumbling into a corner leaving Gears on his head.

'We're under attack!'

Huffer shoved the mech off of him and snorted 'Oh really? Well jee, no shi-'

Another hit shook the ship again, this time closer to the med bay.

Ratchet eyed the ER nervously and turned back to Silverbolt.

'I'm going to grab Sideswipe, make sure he didn't get hit too bad in the med bay, send a message to the higher ups, ask them what's going on.'

'I can tell you what's going on.' Answered a voice

Brawn stomped into the room with Streetwise, Hubcap and Nosecone in tow while Ratchet stumbled towards the ER.

'We're under attack by Decepticons.'

Huffer brought a hand to his forehead 'Are all of you dense? Of course we're under attack you fragging-'

'Shut up Huffer' ordered Silverbolt 'First Aid, go and check for wounded, Nosecone, devise a battle strategy, Hubcap, com Perceptor and the others, Streetwise, go rally some troops with Gears and Pipes, and Brawn?'

The burly bot grunted in response

'Just… don't punch anything that isn't a Decepticon'

He grunted a second time and turned to Beachcomber

'Well what about you? Why don't you grab a gun and fight already?!'

'I'm not a fighter!' snapped the usually calm bot 'I'm a Geologist, I don't fight!'

'Well Perceptor is our head scientist yet he's also a sniper so there!'

'And what will you be doin'?' asked Huffer to Silverbolt

'I'm going to help the other Aerialbots of course'

'Um… Silverbolt?' First Aid pointed towards the door as a figure entered dragging in two bodies

'Air Razor?

Once the two Autobots were within the room, the beast bot fell onto her backside and panted.

First Aid made his way to the wounded and activated a laser scalpel.

'Air Razor, what happened?' asked the Aerialbot leader

She raised her head and nodded to acknowledge Silverbolt.

'The Aerialbots… were completely obliterated, Skydive and Fireflight were shot down, I managed to grab Powerglide and Cosmos here before it was too late and Blades should be-'

The White and Red Helicopter crashed through the Med Bay's walls and into the unfortunate Huffer

'Right here…'

'and Air Raid?'

'I…he's'

Cosmos raised his head and coughed 'I'm sorry Silverbolt, last we saw of Air Raid he was shot down by Needlenose and brought to Megatron presumably.'

Silverbolt nodded quietly and stared in the middle distance, he took a moment to fathom and shook his head.

'DAMN IT!' he shouted suddenly and kicked his slab. Pain was sent through his thigh and into his chest

'Calm down Silverbolt!' ordered First Aid 'You are still hurt and…'

'And I need to take it slow, yeah I know, thanks… idiot.'

'No…' First Aid spun around and brought a hand to his chin 'Does anybody hear that?'

'Hear what?' asked Brawn who was still standing around the Med Bay.

First Aid snapped his fingers 'Exactly! Nothing! They stopped attacking.'

Brawn placed his hands on his hips and chuckled proudly 'Well would you look at that? Looks like they got scared and left!'

At that moment a line of laser fire shot from the ground torching Brawn's fist.

'Ah shit they're below us aren't they?' Fixit asked solemnly

'Correct'

Perceptor entered the room with his sniping team consisting of Crosshairs, Sureshot and Pointblank close behind.

'The Decepticons have breached the Ark's walls and freed the prisoners, we need to eject the Medi Bay immediately.'

'What about the others?' asked Silverbolt counting the heads of the bots within the room 'We aren't waiting for them?'

'I managed to call the Technobots and the other Protectobots, they were in a group with Gears and the Astro squad so I imagine they will be fine as well.'

Silverbolt shook his head violently 'You imagine? What about Jetfire and Hound and the others?'

From below another hole was created and Trailbreaker crawled into the room. A force field sealed the hole below him as he turned his head from Perceptor, to Silverbolt and back.

'Hey guys… what's up?'

Realising his ill-timed joke Trailbreaker picked himself up and faced The Aerialbot

'I kept the Decepticons at bay while Jazz and the others escaped; they ought to have a better time reaching the escape pods on the upper deck.'

'They'll need help getting there.' Replied a voice

From the ER, Ratchet stood next to the still wounded Arcee. The bots in the room made no acknowledgement of her, they were all aware of the crime she had committed, and while a few would have agreed with her, the fear of being cast out like her got the better of them. It was Ratchet who chose to speak to her.

'Thank you Arcee, be sure to get them safe.'

She merely nodded and left the room.

There was then a period of silence, Within the final moments of the Ark Assault the remaining Autobots enterd the med bay. The Protectobots entered the room first with a wounded Hotspot while the Technobots came second, Strafe had an optic dangling from its socket while Scattershot appeared to have had all his dental plates knocked out, Gears made his way in on his own causing Tailgate and Hubcap to whisper about whether he had taken on a group of Decepticons by himself or if he had hid in a corner. Seawatch and Red Hot entered and sat themselves next to Huffer, Pipes and Stakeout. The last to enter was the Astro Squad who appeared to be the worst off, Missile Master was nothing but a severed head -who on closer inspection- was still alive, Barrage on the other hand had his entire legs torn off while his partner Heave carried him.

When bots stopped entering Perceptor muttered to himself.

'Medical facility 0361 program; alpha, Subject Password: Kill Audio'

In moments the room had locked up and ejected itself from the Ark.

'Perceptor!' Silverbolt Screamed and grabbed the scientist's collar 'There were still bots in there, we should have waited for-'

'They are either dead, or had already escaped, this is for the best Silverbolt.'

'But, but how do they know they're even alive?'

Sureshot coughed gaining Silverbolt's attention and tapped on the glass behind him. Outside a group of Pods were drifting away from the Ark.

The Aerialbot leader leant his head back and let out a sigh of relief

'Thank Primus…'

* * *

_2 Days Later: Elsewhere_

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat

'Should we ask him?'

Pat,pat,pat,pat,pat

'No, shut up'

Pat,pat,pat,pat,pat

'C'mon, I want to see it!'

'No, it's rude to ask someone what they turn into you know.'

'But… but…'

'Flywheels' Battletrap interrupted sternly 'Would you either stop patting your legs –or- stop arguing with yourself, or perhaps both, it's getting very annoying.'

'Exactly!' said Flywheels 'That's why I've been telling myself to shut up… but I really want to know!'

Swoop stood up 'It's fine really, if he really wants to see it then I don't blame him'

His body shifted into his mechanical Pteradon mode and perched on his bench.

Flywheels could see all the strange features that the Dinobot now possessed. The long beak, the wide wingspan, and the organic eyes that watched him, the Duocon began to applaud joyfully.

'See it aint so bad' Swoop said before transforming back 'I always did want to fly so I guess you could say this was more of a blessing to me than it was to the others.'

'Really?' said Battletrap 'I thought it looked a little silly to be honest'

'And this is coming from the one who is both a Helicopter _and _a van'

'Yeah, yeah…'

Swoop crossed his arms and laughed softly.

'What's so funny?' quizzed Battletrap

'It's nothing, it's just…' the Dinobot brought a hand to his visor and shook his head 'I forget that I'm talking to a Decepticon sometimes, it's weird how you guys are just like normal people.'

Battletrap scowled 'What are you going on about, do you actually think we're the abnormal ones?'

'Well that isn't what I-'

'No, stop, you Autobots are the weird ones, you were all about shutting off Cybertron's core putting us in this whole situation.'

Swoop slumped back onto the bench and frowned 'I never said I agreed with shutting down the planet's core…'

Flywheels watched the two of them and caught Kickback's image in the corner of his optic. He had been sitting on the bench opposite to them in silence.

'Hey Kickback, you okay? You've been awfully quiet'

The Duocon turned to the door at the end of the room

'And… also not piloting the ship…'

The Insecticon perked up and spoke in a voice much less energetic to what they were used to

'It is on Autopilot, and yes, I am quite well, I was just thinking.'

'Thinking about what?' asked Flywheels cautiously

* * *

_Elsewhere_

'…I was thinking about the universe… Flywheels'

Shockwave stood staring out the long window pane of his ship, his single eye gazed at the billions of stars that loomed in the dark void in front of him as he muttered to himself. He heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind him and spoke.

'Yes Blitzwing?'

The triple changer stopped and pretended he had met with him by coincidence

'Oh uh nothing Shockwave, I just, you know, was passing by the only Cybertronian on the ship.'

'And?'

Blitzwing shuffled his feet 'And nothing, it is kind of boring when there isn't anyone to talk to here, and I guess it wouldn't hurt to actually _try _and have a conversation with you.'

'Curious, your record states that you never got along well with others'

'My record also says that I have mental issues, but we all know that isn't, cranberry pants'

Shockwave shook his head in pitty

'My point exactly' The one eyed Decepticon began to make his way down the hall as Blitzwing followed.

'Shockwave hold on, who am I supposed to talk to on this ship when there is nobody else here besides you'

'Correction, there _is _somebody else on this ship besides us, a ah- another Decepticon, you are invited to search for him, but you won't find him.'

Blitzwing began to grumble as the ship began to tilt

'Um… Shockwave?'

He spun around and grabbed the wall as the ship lurched backwards

'Something is pulling us.' Shockwave stated

'What?'

'The ship is moving on its own, we are being pulled.'

'Towards what?'

'I don't know' Shockwave said shamefully.

He looked back outside to find no physical anomaly to be pulling it, no rognoracks, or space eels, or even another ship. The ship was moving backwards on its own, as if another force was dragging it towards something.

* * *

_The Medbay_

The few days spent drifting in space within a single room had taken its toll on the 30 – 40 Autobots within. While their wounds were treated and –with time- mended, their spirits were still broken. The Ark was more to them than just a ship; it had become a home to them, within the short couple of weeks spent on board while on the Beast Planet, the Autobots had found themselves faced with memorable times. When Streetwise and Sideswipe dumped a bucket of mud on Huffer's head (before the incident in the prison block of course), when Brawn got in a fistfight with Sureshot, when Crosshairs shot an apple off of Gears head. Now they were forced to watch the Ark tied to the belly of the Nemesis from miles away, perhaps as extra space for the Decepticons to put their trash, or more so just to have it there as a trophy for their victory. Either way it left a sour taste in the Autobots mouths. The facility had all of its holes sealed up, when they had initially ejected, yet some were still left loose. Pipes had been sucked out of the ship at one point, prompting Strafe to circle the ship for an hour trying to find the blue runt, (He was hanging onto the belly of the facility the whole time) The medical bay was large enough for everyone to fit on it, there was a slab for nearly everyone to lay on and if not, then there was enough space on the floor as well. Throughout the facility Autobots would carry on with their daily exercises, albeit with less vigor than they once had.

Hubcap and Trailbreaker had attempted to reconnect with the other Autobots for some time with First Aid coming in to drop a suggestion when he wasn't fixing some of the wounded, the rest would try socializing to ease the tension, Scattershot managed to tell a good deal of war stories and raised the spirits of the group, but a quick quip from Huffer tarnished the positive output.

Heave and Barrage sat side by side on the bench that circled the perimeter.

'So Heave, how long do you think?'

'What?'

'How long do you think until one of us goes crazy?'

Heave covered the younger bot's mouth and brought a finger to his faceplate to signal him to be quiet. 'Don't think like that!' he snapped 'Sure we're lost, away from some of our best, but most of us are still together, and I think that is-'

'50 seconds.'

'What?'

Barrage pointed across the room at Powerglide who was spasming on the floor, in moments, Ratchet and First Aid were on top of him and throwing him onto the nearest slab. Powerglide's optics were shining a milky white while his body flapped around.

'What's wrong with him?!' asked First Aid

'He is going into shock' answered Ratchet 'Powerglide is claustrophobic, being in such a tight space with so many people has put him in this state.'

The wing's on Powerglide's legs flapped as he rambled

'Please, I need, I need to get out of here, I- it's, I need to fly!'

First Aid placed a warm hand on the Aerialbot's chest to calm him down

'Relax, you're going to be all right, we will land somewhere any minute now where you can fly all you want.'

'No! I-I'

'Beachcomber!' Ratchet bellowed and the short blue bot jogged over

'Try and calm him down, his illness is a mental one, there is nothing I can do for him physically.'

Beachcomber nodded and tended to Powerglide as some of his other close friends including Cosmos, Pipes, and Tailgate gathered.

'See?' said Barrage 'One of us has gone mad already within 50 seconds of me bringing it up.'

'Seriously mate?' Heave asked 'claustrophobia is a common and completely regular condition- look now Cosmos and Hubcap are shooting us dirty looks' He peeked his head and cupped a hand around his mouth 'Sorry guys'

The bots turned back to Powerglide who appeared to be calming down

'Whatever' said Barrage turning his head away 'my point still stands.'

Heave grinned beneath his faceplate 'Oh really now, and what of your fear of heights? I take it that whenever we are high up that means-'

Barrage raised a hand to silence him and scowled.

'You promised you'd never speak of that…'

Heave sighed 'Alright, alright I'm sorry, but relax, it's not like anyone heard us.'

'Hey Barrage!' Powerglide yelled from his slab 'What? too chicken to fly?'

The group all laughed and Barrage buried his face in his hands

'I hate you…'

On the less crowded side of the facility, Silverbolt approached Perceptor. The scientist had his back turned to the rest of the bay as he stood and gazed out the Plexiglas window. Silverbolt kept his distance as to not disturb the scientist but couldn't resist when it came to asking what the bot with the mind of fifty supercomputers was thinking about.

'Look at Perceptor, staring into space…'

Arms crossed, Perceptor stood motionless as he spoke

'I am currently enthusing myself in the activity of observing star constellations'

'And? Any luck determining some of them?'

'Yes, and with logical reason, for the past two solar cycles, we have drifted past the constellations, Oom, Tetrahex, Gawd Amn, Pyn, Neo, Evangelicron, Bloodfed the Hound, the Ripper, and, ah yes, Burning Spark iii. With this I can safely determine our current location.'

Silverbolt felt generally shocked 'You really do know a lot about the constellations… and their legends?'

'False, all of them, Still… I have found them all rather interesting…'

Silverbolt sighed 'Yeah, I get what you mean,'

The Aerialbot had, for the first time, felt like he was having a legitimate conversation with the scientist. Perceptor was a tragic case really, the Autobot had never had many close friends in the past. Be it because most of the subjects Perceptor enjoyed talking about bored the others out of their skulls or the fact that his vocabulary overwhelmed them, most other Autobots just simply disliked talking with him.

'Which is your favourite?' Silverbolt asked suddenly

'Mm?'

'Which of the legends? You said you found them interesting, which erm… _entertains_ you the most?'

'Oh, in that case I would have to answer with Burning Spark iii'

'Ah…'

Upon remembering the legend, a feeling of uneasiness came over Silverbolt

'Ah… say isn't that the one that-'

'Yes, the legend about how a single being named Vic transformed himself into a god, wiped out the universe, and restarted it making it greater than before, the star is said to be the epicenter of where it took place, the reason he was labeled as Burning Spark _iii _is because it was apparent that the Universe had been destroyed and rebuilt another two times before hand, each Burning Spark said to have greater power with each reincarna…tion'

Perceptor became aware of the look of shock on Silverbolt's face and realized how he had been rambling

'I apologize, I understand that it is a very unpopular story and… I apologize for speaking too much of it.'

'No it's fine, I completely understand, but… why that one? You don't feel disturbed by a story about the universe being destroyed and recreated like that?'

Perceptor shrugged 'I just found it interesting, there is nothing to fear from it as it is just a legend.'

Silverbolt sighed and remembered why he came to speak to the scientist.

'You are in command'

Perceptor shook his head 'No, Autobot leaders have a tendency of disappearing.'

'What do you mean?'

'Jazz, Jetfire, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Prime, they have all disappeared from our lives in one form or the other'

Silverbolt placed a hand on Perceptor's shoulder 'That leaves you.'

'You do realize I am a scientist, not a military strategist or warrior, I analyze, examine, and document, true I can wield a rifle…'

He turned around and glared at Silverbolt

'But holding a weapon does not make one fit to lead.'

Silverbolt could not argue with the Scientist, he turned himself around, and as he did, the entire medical bay began to move. Not in the calm drift it had been doing for two days straight, but in a long pull, as if it had gained a conscious and was being dragged towards something. The Autobots each held onto something firm as the craft moved on its own- Moved towards the same entity that Shockwave's ship was being drawn to.

* * *

_Not far away_

'Well… damn'

'Problem Repugnus'

'We're drifting in the wrong damn direction from the rest of the pods.'

Doublecross and Repugnus sat side by side in the cramped escape pod as they drifted

Doublecross scratched his head as Repugnus rubbed the arch of his nose

'At this rate, we'll be in here until the day we die.' Stated Repugnus

The red and yellow Monsterbot sighed

'Damnit why did I leave Grotusque to go in the other pod with the hot femme, I should have gone in there myself and let you two to rust in here.'

Doublecross chuckled 'ooh, Repugnus thinks whatsherface is hot.'

Repugnus pointed a finger at Doublecross and shot him a bored glance

'Look I haven't seen anything remotely close to female in over 500 years, I could find Wheeljack attractive for all I care' He let out yet another irritated groan and leant his head back.

'It's been two bloody days, I bet Grotusque and the others are having the time of their lives right now…'

'Cheer up would ya Repugnus? I'm sure we'll end up somewhere soon enough.'

As if on cue, the pod began moving on its own.

'Uh… it isn't supposed to do that.'

* * *

_Another not too far away place._

'There he is!'

Fireflight transformed into robot mode and grappled the dark object

'Skydive get over here, I've found him!'

During the assault on the Ark, the two Aerialbots had hidden themselves behind an asteroid belt in order to escape the chaos, they had watched as the other Aerial Autobots were shot down and out and had only witnessed Powerglide, Cosmos, and Blades making it back to the med bay before its launch. After the Nemesis had left, they had considered following the medical craft, but had decided to stay behind and search for Air Raid instead.

The older Aerialbot jetted over to Fireflight curiously

'You sure he's alright? He is practically… Damnit Fireflight that's not Air Raid, it's just another asteroid!'

'Seriously?' Fireflight looked at the asteroid and back to Skydive 'How can you tell?'

'How can I- what are you even talking about? One is an Aerialbot warrior, the other is a chunk of rock, I have no idea how you can mistake the two.'

'You saw what happened to him, he was charred black and… and looked kind of like a rock.'

'No he didn't… he looked like what an Autobot looks like when he's shot by a massive laser'

'Which looks like what?'

'Like a black and charred version of themselves.'

Fireflight pointed at a charred piece of metal in the distance

'You mean like that?'

'No Fireflight, that is just another astero- waaaaait a second.' Skydive hovered over to the large chunk of charred metal and turned it over

'Holy Primus it _is_ Air Raid!'

'See!' Fireflight said proudly 'I told you that was him!'

Skydive waved signalling him to shut up.

'Yup, it's him, and it looks like he's alive, now lemme just gently…'

As he reached for the Aerialbot, Air Raid's body moved seemingly on its own away from the other two Aerialbots and into an asteroid belt.

'Oh you've got to be kidding me…' said Fireflight

* * *

_Razorclaw's ship_

Catilla sat in one of the ships hangers, the craft was tiny in comparison to the Nemesis, but was still small enough to give a bot some privacy. He sat on a short bench in the center of a hallway filled with a set of lockers, gifted with the sense of smell, Catilla thought the area smelt of oil and grease, the lockers had probably been used a number of times already and nobody had bothered to clean them. Chainclaw would hate it, he mused.

However, as much as it bothered him, Chainclaw was not the first thing on Catilla's mind. There were quite a few things of course, most of them involving Slipstream. Slipstream, Energetic, powerful (In both combat and in speaking skills), quite possibly insane and even attractive in her own right, there was something about her that stood out, of course there was the budding event that took place quite spectacularly on the bridge. Not to mention the dead sparkling she birthed that smiled at him as shot it out the trash shoot, but at this point it wasn't that, that was bothering him (for once) it was what she had said to him before they left. "_…Which is why I want you to lead this mission from behind the curtain, Razorclaw will listen to anything his followers say, and all you have to do is tell him exactly what to do."_

The idea troubled Catilla, he wasn't sure what Slipstream had planned for him, but a nagging feeling in the back of his mind said that it wasn't for anything important, in fact he believed that Slipstream had seen him as nothing more than a pawn in comparison to whatever other matters she was up to.

'Hello Catilla'

Catilla nearly jumped out of his skin upon the sudden greetings. Without him knowing, somehow, without a sound, Razorclaw had snuck up behind him.

'Razorclaw!' Catilla motioned to stand but realized he had already leaped to his feet from the shock. Instead he straightened his posture and made a salute.

'Sir, how can I help you?'

Razorclaw lowered his hand to calm him, and as if by some divine power, Catilla's entire body relaxed. The Predacon drifted around the hanger, circling Catilla like a predatory animal.

'Magnificent isn't it?'

'Sir?'

'The Ship' he said coming to a halt on the other side of the bench

'Oh yes' Catilla said nodding 'The ship is definitely capable of carrying out its purpose

'Mm yes' Razorclaw made his way around the bench until he was once again in front of Catilla.

'How are you Catilla?'

Catilla went aback in shock 'Fine, thank you sir.'

'Oh?'

He turned away from his leader in what could only be described as fear.

'I assume you are asking about whether I feel okay with attacking the Autobots.' Catilla said softly.

'Of course, I am still aware of your little betrayal during our battle with the Autobots, I must admit I am quite hurt about that.'

Catilla bowed his head immediately 'I apologize sir, I was a fool, it will not happen again.'

Razorclaw nodded 'You're right, it won't'; in a flash, Razorclaw had pushed Catilla against the nearest locker and unsheathed his blade, pressing it against Catilla's neck until the pressure made the Predacon Guardian's processor grow fuzzy.

The Predacon leader brought his head close and whispered 'Because if you even think about betraying me again in any form, I will tear out your throat with one hand, and gouge out your optics with the other, oh and while I'm at it I might chew on your spark casing, just to seal the deal, are we understood?'

Catilla nodded his head frantically, as if the faster he did it the sooner he would be let go. It didn't work.

'See this is what I like about you Catilla, you know perfectly well that unlike Decepticons like Megatron and Starscream, who say these sorts of threats to instill terror in their followers. _I_ am doing no such thing. You are completely aware that I am not trying to _scare_ you; rather I am merely stating facts. You have witnessed me carry these out before on some of my greatest colleagues, and that is what makes the fear in your optics so...' He turned away for a moment to think of the proper word

'Delicious… _yesssss…' _

With that Razorclaw gifted his follower with some room to catch his breath and watched as Catilla slid to the floor; without another word, Razorclaw had left the room as silently and indiscreetly as he entered.

_Slipstream was right,_ Catilla thought while massaging his neck. _Razorclaw really was borderline insane_.

* * *

And, like in many other occurrences that day, the ship moved towards the same entity that dragged the other ships towards it.

One would think that this was merely a coincidence, in which all the shuttles had malfunctioned in a way that would make them drawn to this area as impossible as it seemed; some believed this marked the beginning of an event that brought all Cybertronians together in one place. Whether it was fate or not, the gathering started at the beginning where Cybertronians complete attitude towards their war had changed. Historians believed that the gathering occurred on a dwarf planet devoid of life, in reality there were quite a few beings that lived on the dead planet.

On this planet there sat a single figure atop a throne made entirely of robotic skeletons ranging from small sports cars that had their jaws still wide open, to seekers whose wings still retained their own skeletal structure and looked remarkably similar to an angels wings, if the angel was a charred skeleton of course.

The figure who sat cross legged atop this throne was a thin and spindly figure; he was a Cybertronian with long black wires flowing from under his nose giving him a beard-like look. Whatever colour he may have once been had long since disappeared long ago as the only colour that could be seen on his body was the orange that looked as if the bot had been bathing in a pool of it. He held a long staff in one hand with the head of a dead robot on its tip. He sat nearly motionless as another being similar in structure to him approached and spoke in a unique language.

[My King, we have very good news, more food is raining from the sky again.]

The bot lurched forward and grinned beneath his beard of wires

[How many are there my child?]

[Many, many] came the reply [Not sure if we can devour them all.]

[We can devour them surely] the king assured

[What might cause you to say that?]

The king stood up from his throne and gripped his staff

[Because of whom I am,

I am the one who is closest to Primus,

I am the one who has saved his people,

I am the farmer,

I am Wreck-Gar, I am a Hero.]

* * *

Have a question? leave a review and I will probably answer it!


	28. Probable Probing

**AN:** Well here it is, I've had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I hope it will be enjoyed. I found that I am most enthusiastic about writing when I'm either on the go or at my writers group at school, so maybe getting out more = more progress._  
_

* * *

**Wing's Journal Entry: 007**

'_Hello, Journal. It's been a while since I made another entry here; Drift has constantly been pestering me about it. He's been saying that three years is too long a time to load six entries, but then again what 'is' considered long for us? I might as well have waited a thousand years just to update my journal and nobody would have noticed a change in time. The others would though, the organic races of the galaxy, it must be a scary thought for them to be honest, they usually die within a hundred years, yet for us to die of old age… it's almost unthinkable. I remember something Longarm said to me once, "we can indeed die from old age, shockingly our life span is exactly a trillion years." To say the least I myself was shocked. But at the same time it shouldn't matter, we can always build ourselves new bodies to live on in. But as I said before, it's no wonder the organics fear us, in the time it takes one of us to decide what to say for our journals, a being could have lived, bore children, died, and even then the children could be in their elder years. Well anyways back to my life, yesterday we got a call from the Prime, yeah that's right, 'the' Guardian Prime. He called our station and told us we would be mining in a cavern that had been recently found. Now if anyone sneaks in and listens to these entries let me just make it clear and say that I have the utmost respect for Guardian Prime, but what in the name of Vector Sigma does he think he's talking about when he wants us, the science class, to dig around in some dirt to find Energon? Leave it to the miners for Primus sake. I know he is doing this in case we ever run out, and I respect that, but sometimes I just can't help but question some of his decisions. Well that's all for today… or maybe for a while, Drift said that journal entries also mean good luck but Drift says a lot of things… I've got to get some rest, big day tomorrow.'_

END LOG

* * *

_The Medical Bay_

They landed badly, nobody on board knew what they were being pulled to, but if they had to guess, it would be either a planet, a moon, or a planet sized moon. The bots that didn't fasten themselves to a slab or held on to a wall were hurled forward, literally soaring overhead and landing face first into a hard metal wall. The Facility dragged across the ground for what felt like half an hour before coming to a full stop at the edge of the face of a cliff. Trailbreaker perked his head up and looked around to be sure they had stopped.

He stood up tall and placed his hands on his hips.

'Well that could have been worse, anyone else feel like-'

The room began to tilt at a slant.

'Trailbreaker, what are you doing sit down!' Silverbolt shouted

But before Trailbreaker could react, the bay had lost its balance on the tip of the cliff edge and began to plummet yet again.

When they stopped this time, Brawn had made it clear to everyone not to move so suddenly when on a cliff edge.

'Next person to act like a fragging idiot is going to have my fist up their tailpipe'

It was less a threat as it was a statement.

Trailbreaker chuckled 'Hah, good o'l Brawn.'

'That wasn't a joke' threatened Brawn 'smarten up or get out of the way'

'Heheh… Brawn… such a joker.'

Silverbolt drifted from his slab and over to Perceptor who was dusting off his lower arms.

'Perceptor, any idea what planet we landed on?' He rubbed his upper arm in thought 'or even if it is a planet to begin, given the past events that we've witnessed I wouldn't be surprised if we turned out to land on… on some giant alien or something.'

Perceptor grimaced from the thought and ejected a laser scalpel from his fingertip.

'Well that would be rather… '

Perceptor stood almost statuesque, working his mind for some reason.

'Um… Perceptor?'

'Ah no worries.' Said an approaching yellow mech 'He is just trying to think of the longest word for "bad"'

'Really?' quizzed Silverbolt somewhat interested 'I never knew he was picking complicated words on purpose.'

'Yeah, see way back when Perceptor worked with a mech named Georwell. See Georwell hated long complicated words, always argued that it proved that the speaker was just speaking in order to seem important, he proved one of Perceptor's theories wrong at one point in time and Percy here has been speaking in spite of him ever since.'

The yellow mech grinned and patted the scientist on the back 'Aint that right Perceptor?'

'Erroneous!' Perceptor shouted, startling both bots in the process, he cleared his throat 'That would be erroneous…'

'Uh huh…' Silverbolt turned back to the yellow mech

'Well that was quite a story… er…'

'Sureshot!' said the mech gleefully 'My name's Sureshot c'mon everyone knows me!'

'Um sorry…' Silverbolt rubbed his forehead in embarrassment 'But I've never seen you once in my life.'

Sureshot went aback with a look of hurt on his faceplate 'What? What are you talking about? I've always been with you guys!'

* * *

_Before_

Repugnus stood with Groove in his scythe

'Nobody move or this slaglicker gets it!'

The Autobots lowered their weapons

'Aww man!' groaned Sureshot 'This mother trucker went and got stabbed by a bug!'

_Another time_

'Because I'm still living Jetfire!'

Jetfire looked at him in shock 'What are yo-'

'Hey guys!' Sureshot called from the tree 'Do you mind?! I'm trying to sleep here!'

_And another time…_

Razorclaw stood above the burning corpse of Brimstone triumphantly as Sureshot whispered to Jazz

'Hey, this might sound crazy… but I think this guy _miiiiight _be evil.'

_Another time_

'When you die, you die…' Ratchets voice sounded grim 'there is nothing more to it'

Sureshot entered the ER with datapad in hand 'Hey Ratchet I need…'

He turned his head from Arcee who was pointing a gun at Ratchet, to First Aid who was pointing a gun at Arcee, and to Ratchet who hadn't acknowledged Sureshot.

'Well this is Awkward' said the Targetmaster 'I'll just come back later and-'

* * *

'WAIT!'

_Now_

'That didn't happen' snapped First Aid, jumping into the conversation 'I was there at the time and I know for certain you hadn't entered while we were having a row.'

'Of course I did!' argued Sureshot

'Then how were you both with Jetfire, _and _at the med bay, at the same time?'

Sureshot went paused for a moment '...Oh that, yeah soon after Razorclaw showed up I kind of ditched and went back to the Ark.'

First Aid slammed his fist on a nearby slab 'Then why didn't you tell us about what happened?'

Sureshot rubbed his chin in thought 'Hun? Oh yeah that, I guess I forgot.'

First Aid groaned and noticed Groove watching from a meter away

'Groove, did you see Sureshot when you… you know, got stabbed.'

Groove raised a brow in response 'Who's sureshot?'

'Exactly!'

Sureshot waved a hand at the two Protectobots in denial and turned his back to them

'Ah shows what you know, what do you think Silverbolt, Silverbolt?'

But the Aerialbot had already left to join the group crowding near the entrance of the facility

'So tell me again Perceptor how is this going to work?' asked Silverbolt

'Simple,' he said 'Using a laser scalpel I can predeterminedly cut an entrance from the door by utilizing a laser scalpel to burn the hinges- blah blah blah.'

Pipes, Trailbreaker, Huffer, Brawn and Gears stood watching.

'Hey you guys, aren't you excited?' Whispered Pipes

'For what?' asked Huffer dully

'For the Planet we're on of course! Who knows what strange wonders we'll encounter here!'

'Pfft…' Huffer shook his head 'I'll bet you all ten shanix that wherever we are it'll be a pit hole.'

'Come now Huffer.' Said Trailbreaker 'Don't be so Pessimistic.'

'You seemed to have forgotten who you're talking to.' said Gears Dryly

Huffer ignored the statement and kept ranting 'I'm telling you, the last place was pretty bad, but this place'll be worse, I can feel it, I'm telling you this entire planet is going to be built to the core with Rubbish, Junk, and trash'

'Rubbish, Junk, and Trash are all the same things' said Tailbreaker matter-of-factly

'Besides you don't know that.' Said Pipes 'We could be seeing a wonderland, filled with amazing creatures and mysteries for us to solve and pet!'

Huffer sighed 'Frankly I don't want to solve any creatures or pet any mysteries… I think I'll sit this one out.'

'Like you did last time?' asked Gears

Just then Brawn let out what could have been heard as a war cry, although he didn't move his body, he only opened his mouth and yelled gathering the attention of all the bots in the room.

'RAAAAAAAARGHGLARBLE.'

Trailbreaker kept his distance 'Brawn? You okay?'

Brawn punched a nearby slab sending it off it's hinges

'I can't wait any longer; get out of the way aft holes!'

Perceptor realized what was happening and dove away from the door. Brawn sprinted towards the entrance and crashed through the wall without a dent. He kept going and ended up face first into what was none other than a pile of junk.

The Autobots stepped outside and their jaws dropped.

The planet was made of a seemingly copper metal which in certain areas were concentrated to rise and create large spires reminiscent of metal trees, The Autobots would have liked to think it was beautiful, they really would, but the ground was nearly completely covered in scrap metal and overall junk.

Trailbreaker stepped forward and reached into his belt, he pulled out a credit chit holding ten shanix and handed it to Huffer without making eye contact. The purple engineer smiled and retreated into the medical bay with his hard earned cash.

* * *

_Razorclaw's ship_

'Feh' Razorclaw disregarded the scrap metal lodging itself into his foot and fully exited his ship, he stood meters away from the crash site and examined the landscape the copper metal stretch out for seemingly miles, and it was littered with metal jungles of scrap and smaller bits of trash that resembled groves and the like. The entire scene looked quite similar to Cybertron's primordial past minus the pieces of junk on the ground. However that wasn't the similarity that astounded Razorclaw, it was the darkness of the jungle, the roar of possible creatures hidden within; it was the similarity to the jungle planet. It made the Energon in his veins boil and it awoke him from his regularly sober disposition.

Headstrong lifted a large chunk of metal from the wrecked ship allowing the rest of the group to emerge from the wreckage; they were all generally unwounded despite some minor scrapes and burns.

Divebomb took a moment to dust himself off and observed the landscape with awe.

'Wow' Divebomb approached Razorclaw with an almost childish, open mouthed grin.

'Yo, Razorclaw, check this place out, isn't this awesome?'

Razorclaw responded with a groan and didn't move. Although he had to admit that Divebomb was right, the planet truly was intriguing, however the way the metallic planet managed to pull them there by some invisible force grabbed his interest with a tighter grip.

Catilla emerged close behind with Octopunch and Stranglehold; the original five Predacons were gathered ahead of them while the Firecons, Snarler and Carnivac stood to the side.

'Hah, yeah we're alive!' exclaimed Stranglehold 'Time to bust some things.'

'I'm with you' said Octopunch cracking his knuckle joints 'I'm telling you, I'm more ready than ever to kill something.'

Catilla looked around the area and counted heads

'Hey where's Rampage?'

'Razorclaw!'

Rampage sprinted from the ship wreckage in tiger mode and leaped in front of his commander, he transformed to robot mode revealing his troubled expression.

'What is it Rampage?' asked Razorclaw

'It's terrible, absolutely terrible!'

Razorclaw rose his guard 'What, what happened? Speak!'

Rampage swallowed, he was panting hard; something had gone terribly wrong

'The TV!' he spat 'The TV broke in the crash! What are we supposed to do without it now? I promised Needlenose that we'd play _Political Punching Smuggler 6 _online, now he'll be waiting to play and I won't be there! Oh yeah and the Terrorcons escaped or something… But now how am I going to find entertainment when we live on a world made of-'

Razorclaw raised a hand and Rampage went silent

'Rampage… what did you just say?'

He shot a confused glance back at his commander

'Uh… that I can't play a game with Needlenose?'

'No… after that…'

'… That I need to find some new entertainment to-'

'The Terrorcons damn it what did you say about the Terrorcons?!'

'Oh them? They escaped, could be miles away from here by now.'

Razorclaw smacked Rampage across the face with the back of his hand and turned to Snarler

'How did this happen? How could they have gotten away so discretely?'

Snarler stood at attention. 'I- I don't know sir.'

'Grah' Razorclaw turned away and examined the world once more.

'Nevermind them, we'll find them later, for now… Divebomb, scan the area from the sky, Sparkstalker, take your Firecons and take them to the west, Rampage, Headstrong, Tantrum, You're with me, and Catilla…'

He turned around slowly and leaned over the smaller beast. '… You will lead Carnivac and Snarler to scout ahead for any trouble.

Catilla stood frozen for a moment before replying

'Understood.'

Snarler made a snorting noise and leaned over to Carnivac.

'What has _he _ever done to become a leader?'

Carnivac, as always, stood there in silence with a wide unending grin.

Razorclaw continued 'Octopunch, Stranglehold, you two will stay here and bring our ship back to operational status.'

Stranglehold threw his arms into the air and cursed 'Oh come on!'

Octopunch stared at his feet

'Damn it.'

'Now then' said Razorclaw as he crossed his arms 'Are there any questions?'

'Yeah, I have one.' Razorclaw watched as Headstrong stepped forward, 'What reason do we have to follow you? You've become nothing but a kiss aft and a hack. You have gone from being a feared warlord and a king to a weakling and a joke, What reason is there left for us to be led by you anyways? Frankly do not see myself being on this team any longer.'

The tension in the air was brutal as the Predacons watched Headstrong stand up to his leader.

'That's a good question Headstrong.' Razorclaw replied in response 'Now let me ask _you _a question as well.'

Silence

'If you were to lose one, would you rather lose, A: a set of optics, or B: your tongue.'

Headstrong stood puzzled by the question.

'Er, what?'

'If you were to lose your optics or your tongue which would it be? Personally I would prefer you to lose your tongue so that I wouldn't have to hear your snivelling, but if you do not wish to see yourself on this team, then if you were to lose your optics you won't have to _see _anything anymore. Choose.'

Headstrong began backing away 'Look, sir, I didn't mean what I said; I was just joking is all.'

Razorclaw sighed 'Tongue it is'

With one quick movement Razorclaw was on top of Headstrong, his hand grabbing at the Decepticon's throat. For a split moment as Headstrong tried to pull Razorclaw's arms away, he began to wonder why he was reaching for his throat when he had specifically told Headstrong that he would be tearing out his tongue. He learned painfully not long after.

As Razorclaw held Headstrong with one hand, he flattened his other until his fingers all connected. With Precision, Razorclaw then jabbed his hand into Headstrong's throat. Being careful not to cut any connecting wires to the brain module, Razorclaw wrapped his hand around a small appendage and pulled. Ripping his hand from Headstrong's throat, he tore out the Predacon's voice box with his tongue attached to it by metallic strands. The leathery oral muscle dangled from the vocalizer causing Sparkstalker to puke flames from the sight. Headstrong tried to scream in pain but could not manage it without a voice box. Needing to scream he automatically transformed into his armored Rhinoceros mode and cried in pain.

'There.' Razorclaw said as he tossed the machinery away. 'Now then Headstrong it appears that if you wish to speak from now on it will have to be in your Rhinoceros mode, how does that sound?'

Using his more organic voice box, Headstrong managed a:

'Yesh…'

'Of course you _did _have a fair question, why am I sending us all out when we should be trying to find our way off this planet? Five simple words.'

Razorclaw lunged and transformed into his metallic lion mode

'Because I can smell Autobots'

* * *

_Outside the Medbay _

Heave and Barrage sat side by side on the cliff edge as they watched Powerglide fly. He was doing several different aerial tricks in the sky above, from nose dives to barrel rolls, he flew. Although Heave couldn't help but think it was less so because he wanted to entertain the Autobots below, as the Aerialbot flew simply because he _could. _Below, Heave could spot Beachcomber and Hubcap driving in their vehicle modes and boosting over several hills and gaining air in the process, while Beachcomber seemed content to drive over the rough terrain, Hubcap appeared to feel somewhat uneasy from the shards of scrap metal stuck in his tires. He could also spot Pipes apparently gathering some of the trash in the distance for whatever reason.

'So' said Barrage

'Yeah.' Heave replied without looking

'Huffer'

'Yep'

'He was absolutely right'

'I know'

'I mean really! He had it right down to the dot, he specifically said that we'd land on a planet made of scrap, and what did we land on? Exactly, the chances of this have got to be astronomical!'

'_I know, _Barrage'

Barrage waved a hand at him 'Yeah, yeah, okay'

After a moment of silence, Barrage spoke up again

'I bet Huffer's actually God'

Heave scoffed 'Barrage with all due respect, that…' Heave blinked and turned back to his partner '…That actually makes a lot of sense, it would explain all the gloom that goes around here, and the fact that we can't go 1000 years without a war.'

'Hah, see!'

Below Silverbolt and Perceptor spoke

'Are you sure?' Silverbolt asked

'Yes, I believe that this is the exact planet that Jetfire had read Ultra Magnus' signal on.'

Silverbolt rubbed his forehead 'Any exact co-ordinates'

'Not yet, I must say that finding them will prove to be extremely difficult, both considering the size of this planet as well as the fact that…'

'That they may not still be alive? They're alive. Jetfire was sure of it, _I'm_ sure of it.'

Perceptor nodded, 'You will need to cover ground for a better chance at our radar picking anything up.'

'Got it, Send Beachcomber, Pipes , Strafe and Powerglide to scan the east, I will go with Trailbreaker, Brawn and Cosmos to survey the west.'

'Hey, Silverbolt!' Ratchet called from the med bay before jogging over to the Aerialbot.

'I overheard you' said the surgeon 'you're heading out to find wounded correct'

'Possibly wounded correct'

'Then I'll come too' Ratchet exclaimed

'You're sure?' asked Silverbolt skeptically 'There isn't anything that requires your assistance in the medical bay?'

Ratchet shook his head 'Everyone is already up and running, First Aid is trying to connect to the others that ejected from the pods but if anything happens, he should be ready to heal the wounded if it comes to that.

'Alright, done deal, welcome aboard Ratchet.'

Ratchet spun his head left and right before glancing back at Silverbolt with a raised brow.

'I, I'm sorry but what am I supposed to board exactly?'

Silverbolt chuckled 'Sorry Ratchet, it was a figure of speech.'

'Oh.' Ratchet said not entirely sure whether to be embarrassed or not 'Understood'

'And where will you be during all this?' said Brawn to appearing out of seemingly nowhere

'Oh hello Brawn' replied Perceptor 'You were talking to me, yes? I hadn't noticed you there.'

Brawn crossed his arms 'Yeah, why? Because I'm short?'

Perceptor stared blankly at the Demolitions expert

'Pardon?'

'Yeah you heard me' said Brawn apparently losing his trail of thought 'All you do is sit around while we're fighting, and whenever you _do _fight it's a mile away and with a sniper rifle, all the real mechs fight with their fists.'

'Only you and Ironhide fight with your fists' corrected Ratchet

Perceptor fixed his scouter in place as he spoke to Brawn

'You seem to be accusing me of cowardice when there are more pressing matters to be concerned of, for example we have little to no clue how we landed on this planet in the first place as we were pulled here by some unknown force.'

As the two bots argued, Heave and Barrage watched from a distance.

'Go!' said Barrage

'No.'

'Come on, do it, you always complained about not being able to do anything important, now's your chance, go ask him if we can come along.'

'Okay first off, I recall that being you, second, that being said why don't _you _go ask.'

'Are you kidding? I can't just go around asking people for company, that's your job.'

Heave sighed 'Alright, fine, I'll go.'

Heave approached the group nervously

'Um, excuse me?'

Brawn and Perceptor stopped arguing as Silverbolt answered

'Yes? Erm…'

'Heave, sir, my name is Heave.'

'Oh…' Silverbolt scratched at the back of his helm 'Well now that is somewhat unfortunate.'

'Noticed, sir, I was wondering if Barrage and I could join you on your… trip.'

'Of course' Silverbolt answered immediately 'We could use all the helping hands we could get.'

'Thanks sir' Heave did a salute and turned back to Barrage

'We can go'

'YES!' Barrage did a fist pump and jumped for joy, his joy wouldn't last for long however, as little did anyone know, they were being watched by one of the 1000 violent natives on the planet.

* * *

_Shockwave's Location _

Unlike the other pair of ships that had crash-landed on the planet, Shockwave's ship had landed barely scathed, it was still intact and could easily fly again; the only pieces with visible damage were Shockwave and Blitzwing, who were both thrown out of the cockpit upon crash.

Shockwave awoke and attempted to lift himself up but stopped as he felt something weighing him down. He looked down at his body to find Blitzwing clinging onto him like a newborn sparkling, an oversized newborn sparkling of course.

'Get off!' Shockwave spat as he knocked the triple changer off of him

Blitzwing shook his head and groaned 'Sorry 'bout that, I just… feh, I'm fine.'

'Unimportant' stated Shockwave 'we must figure out how… how…'

Shockwave began to recall the events before the crash. He remembered looking out the window to find that the ship was being pulled by an invisible force. He remembered checking the scanners to find no physical or electromagnetic entity pulling the ship by its tail. For the first time in a long time, Shockwave was absolutely baffled.

'That doesn't make any sense!' he yelled startling Blitzwing

'There was nothing pulling us! I saw that, the ship was flying backwards despite its thrusters being active, and this ship can't fly backwards _or _vertically, it can't be the planets gravity because we were already just under a light-year away from the planet when it started pulling us.'

Blitzwing reached towards Shockwave to place a warming hand on his shoulder only for the mad scientist to fall to his knees, his single eye searing with light

'I… I can't, this isn't at all supported by logic, perhaps if I…'

Shockwave pressed a button on his wrist and paused.

'Um…' Blitzwing got closer 'Shockers? You okay?'

'No… This planet…'

'What? What about this planet, beside the fact that it smells like feces what else is wrong with it?'

'This planet…' Shockwave dug his fingers into the copper metal below 'My scans say that this planet has no gravity'

'No gravity?' Blitzwing scoffed at the idea 'But that would be-'

'Absoutely _ILLOGICAL!' _

With that, Shockwave went into involuntary systems shutdown.

* * *

_Kickback's ship_

Kickback had fallen headfirst off of his bench and face first onto the floor.

'Hah, Hey Kickback, are you alright?' Battletrap laughed

'Heh looks like he just tripped over his own feet' said Swoop equally amused

Battletrap chuckled 'Heh yeah I thought the master of espionage would be a bit lighter on his feet'

'Hah that's right!'

As Swoop and Battletrap laughed, Flywheels placed a hand on Kickback's chest

'Uh… guys?'

Battletrap calmed down and turned to his fellow Duobot 'Heh, yeah what's up Wheels?'

'He's dead.'

'Hahahah… what?'

'Um yeah…' Flywheels scratched the back of his head 'His spark is out, I think he just died.'

There was a silence, and both Battletrap and Swoop leapt to their feet in unison

'What!?'

'He's dead?' asked Swoop 'He can't die; he still hasn't lived up to his promise yet' he began to raise his voice 'He still hasn't fixed Slug yet!'

'Oh god…' muttered Battletrap 'What are we going to do, we're stranded in space and our smartest member is dead.'

'Well I wouldn't go that far' said Swoop sounding somewhat sobered

Kickback leaped from the floor and onto his feet causing everyone to scream.

'AAAAHHHH'

Shocked, Kickback began screaming too. '

'AAHHHH I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE SCREAMING ABOUT-AAAHHHHHHHH!'

Battletrap and Swoop soon settled down and so did Kickback

Swoop spoke still shaken from the experience

'Kickback we thought you were-'

'AAAAAHHHH!' Flywheels was still screaming

'We thought you were-

'AHHHHH!'

Battletrap punched Flywheels in the face causing his secondary personality to kick in

'Thanks.'

'We thought you were dead' Swoop finally managed to finish

Kickback scratched his cheek and lowered his head.

'Hmm… the connection seems to have been severed.' He spoke grimly

'Kickback?' Battletrap asked sitting back down 'You're sounding a little strange, are you still sane… sane for your standards at least?'

'Eh? Oh yeah I'm good, I'm cool, I'm feeling the rhythm in my abdomen I'm totally feeling se-'

'Okay' Swoop interrupted him 'I get it, Flywheels said you were dead'

'Ah' Kickback turned to Flywheels and back to Swoop 'So I suppose Flywheels somehow became the reliable info broker while I was out?'

Swoop grinned 'Heh, right, any idea what that was Kickback.'

'Not a clue' he lied

Kickback looked to Flywheels who was squinting at him

'What are you looking at two-face?'

'Hmm…' Flywheels leant forward 'are you a zombie? Because it would make a world worth of sense if you were a zombie.'

Battletrap rubbed his optics with both hands 'Vector Sigma Flywheels are you actually _trying _to be an idiot?'

'Look there's nothing wrong with being a zombie' continued Flywheels 'I just don't want to be on the same ship as one.'

'What makes me seem like a zombie?' asked Kickback

Flywheels laughed heartily 'Well because you died and came back of course'

Kickback turned to the others

'I would have thought it was because of the fact that I am an Insecticon and well… eat people, to be honest I doubt becoming a zombie would change much of who I am.'

'Ah whatever' Interrupted Battletrap eager to change the subject from the uneasiness he was beginning to feel, 'How long do you guys think it will be until we find the aliens who stole the Insecticons and Bruticus and kick the living scrap out of their organic buttocks'?'

'Wait…' Swoop brought his index finger to his forehead 'Aliens?'

'Um yeah?' Battletrap shot Swoop an "are you an idiot" look and explained.

'Massive spaceship, not of this world, tractor beam, cog theft, probable probing in the afterburners, I'd say that it all points towards aliens.'

Swoop shrugged 'I guess…'

'What you don't think so?' quizzed Battletrap

'I don't know' said Swoop

Flywheels looked out the window 'I bet it won't be too long until we find these aliens.'

Battletrap sighed in response 'I'd like to believe that Flywheels, really I would, hell my trigger finger is itching so much that I am finding it hard to resist shooting Swoop in the head.'

He turned to the Dinobot 'No offense'

'None taken and likewise.'

'But really' Battletrap continued 'We have a very slim chance at finding these guys…'

'I agree' said Swoop 'they could have trans-warped anywhere in the galaxy while we were packing our things.'

'I agree with Flywheels actually' said Kickback.

'Seriously?' said Battletrap 'What gives you that idea?'

Kickback shrugged

'I know this sounds cheap' said Battletrap 'But why don't we just go find Shockwave and fix Swoop's friend already, I can say with one-hundred percent certainty-'

The titanic alien spaceship holding Bruticus and the Insecticons warped to their location

'-that we will never find these guys.'

Battletrap soon became aware of the situation from the dropped jaws on Swoop and Flywheel's faces.

'HAH!' Kickback broke into laughter

'Hahah, I just –I'm sorry, I just remembered, Abou a month ago I bet Swindle that if he ever tried selling to aliens that he would get probed and now… heheh, now I bet he's getting probed right now, Ahahah!'


	29. A Different Voice

**AN:Here marks the longest chapter so far, I hope you like reading a lot!**

* * *

**Wing's Journal Entry: 008**

'_Hello anyone and everyone, this is Wing and I have some amazing news! Amazing, fantastic news, Drift was right, he was so right when he said these journals would bring good luck… What? Oh, Sorry. I'm still in the caverns so I have to keep my voice down a bit. Primus, I will never doubt Guardian Prime again, we actually stumbled into an old temple from the ancients. You know, the ancients, the titanic ancestors of our past! And all of the details are still here, there are old paintings spread on the walls speaking of the fabled space bridge technology, and the gift of mass displacement, things that we only thought were to be myths from the T.R.Y (Technological, Record of the Years) Program. These things of the past that have now been proven with solid evidence from these caverns and-'_

'_Get to the point Wing.' _Barked Guardian

'-_Oh yes sir- You see that wasn't even the best part of our trip, or what we discovered, deep within these caverns we found machinery, still intact machinery that hadn't been spoken of within the T.R.Y. The Machinery is strange to say the least; one example of the machinery is a large metallic capsule with jagged edges and long spindly spider-like legs. After scanning it, we learned that its purpose is to generate an incredibly powerful type of Energon capable of allowing one to survive for millennia to come, screw what Longarm said about us only living for trillons of years, we can be legitimately immortal from what we've found. Ah? Oh yes sir, I nearly forgot to mention, before I log off, my fellow scientist, can't remember his name, sorry, has dubbed this substance by its unique colouring, he has named it, Dark Energon'_

END LOG

* * *

_Location Unknown: Unidentified Transport ship. _

A Cybertronian's optics peeled open between crusted oil and salty mech fluid lodged in his tear ducts. He couldn't see where he was, it was not that he was blind, no, and definitely not because of a lack of light, or the fact that his optics could very well have been bleeding over themselves. In fact it was the exact opposite, a looming light from above blinded his vision to the point where it would be impossible to see unless you were standing above where the light shone. He could feel pain surging through his entire body, as if someone had opened him up, stuck something large and sharp in him, and put him back together. He wasn't sure where he was, or even who he was at first. His memories were all fragmented until tiny images emerged, then the images turned into words 'Crown, Starscream, Process, Gestalt, Rain, Trypticon, Jazz, Nemesis, Pain, Dinobots, Cogs. The words began to expand into sentences.

'I'm bringing the rain… Stolen… Am I going to die… he is a Gestalt… remove them… not the one… we'll try later…'

Finally his memories had come back into place. As he remembered his name, he muttered it as well as he could beneath his broken faceplate

'Onslaught…'

* * *

_Shockwave's ship_

Shockwave's single, burned as he awoke (a common side effect for someone with his condition) He scanned the area around him and took small scalpels, drills, and other power tools gave him a hint; he was lying on a recharge slab within the ship's medical bay. At the foot of his slab was Blitzwing who was holding a scalpel as if it were a dagger and was swinging it in front of him as if training for a deadly encounter.

'You didn't use any tools like that on me while I was in stasis, did you?'

Blitzwing turned to Shockwave wide eyed and tossed the scalpel away from him

'No, why would I do that?'

'Indeed' said Shockwave soberly 'Why would you…?'

Blitzwing darted his optics around the medical ward and began to feel unnerved by Shockwave's cold stare.

'Uh well, anyways.' The Triple Changer said 'I brought you here after your…' he crossed his arms in discomfort 'you know… mental breakdown, you were screaming like an Insecticon and well… yeah.'

Shockwave nodded 'Ah yes…'

Blitzwing nodded back 'Yeah so anyways if you're feeling better I'll just- I'll just be outside yeah?'

Blitzwing turned to leave but was soon stopped short.

'Hold Blitzwing, have you checked the scanners for life on the planet?'

Blitzwing groaned, not wanting to do any more work so he lied.

'Yeah totally; no life-signs here, definitely not.'

Shockwave hummed and lifted himself off of the slab and onto his feet

'Please don't lie to me Blitzwing, those who aren't honest are the worst kind of criminals.'

Blitzwing grunted in annoyance and stomped out of the tight room.

Once Shockwave was certain he was gone, he looked down at his arm cannon and sighed

'What is happening to me, Fistfight?'

* * *

_Within an Asteroid Belt_

'Hot, damn this is taking a while.' Stammered Fireflight, his thrusters flickering from a lack of fuel 'It takes me about 20 minutes to actually find something that might remotely look like him, and when I get close, another one knocks Air Raid out of the way and sends him blending in with the rest of these, what do you call them, comets?'

'Asteroids' answered Skydive, the Aerialbot was hovering in robot mode slowly drifting between the massive hunks of rock 'They only become comets when they fall into a planet's atmosphere'

'Asteroids' Fireflight repeated 'That sounds like some kind of bowel disease'

Skydive held in a laugh from the immature joke, he wouldn't let Fireflight get that satisfaction,

'Well that's what people call them.' Skydive stopped and squinted his optical sensors.

'Found him!' Skydive called 'He's right over here'

Fireflight hovered to Skydive's position and craned his head from the left to the right, trying to pinpoint where Air Raid had disappeared to.

'Where?'

'Over there' Skydive pointed to a small crack between two asteroids. 'I can see a faded Autobot badge; it looks like he's clinging onto an orange pod of some kind'

'Really? I can't see him.'

Skydive waved a hand 'Never mind, just follow me.'

Skydive hovered around the rocks and transformed, allowing him to squeeze through the two asteroids unscathed. Transforming back he landed a hand onto Air Raid just as he began drifting again.

'Gotcha!' he announced, Skydive's attention soon went to the pod beneath him as he could hear voices emanating from it.

* * *

_The Medical Bay_

First Aid grabbed his cloth for the seventeenth time that day and wiped the grease from his fingers, he didn't have an obsessive compulsion when it came to being clean, but he couldn't help but dislike the idea of having greasy hands. Hundreds of hand washing practices before medical procedures was to thank for that. He sarcastically mused that a planet made entirely of scrap metal and junk was the perfect place for him. He was working on top of the crashed facility, helping set up a satellite dish with Tailgate and Hubcap. From standing on top of the craft, he could see just how lucky they were to have such a large hospital for him to work in. It lengthened to about the size of Omega Supreme and was bulky enough that it could survive an ambush by the Decepticons. The only thing small about it would be the height of the ceiling which Scattershot had bumped his head on, on multiple occasions. However Prime was right when he said that the Ark would have the top accommodates.

'Pass the Ratchet.' said Hubcap

First Aid frowned in puzzlement 'What?'

Hubcap held his head back and laughed upon realizing his choice of words

'Sorry F.A, I mean the tool, not the person, funny how most of us have come to think that way.'

'I once knew a guy named Laser Gun' said Tailgate 'It caused much more confusion'

'Are you thinking about him' Hubcap asked First Aid

First Aid nodded 'Yeah, I probably should have asked him something before he rolled out, nothing too important though.'

'He'll be back before you know It.' said Tailgate as he activated a laser scalpel.

'Yeah, you're right.' The medic's optics wandered to the ground below where to his discomfort, Blades, Streetwise and Groove approached.

'Hey First Aid!' Streetwise called whilst waving a hand.

First Aid turned his back to them and faced the satellite.

Hubcap immediately became aware of the attention and leant over to Tailgate. 'Let's go find some more parts; you'll be alright here right First Aid?'

He nodded and the two smaller bots leapt off the side of the roof and onto the copper metal below.

'First Aid!' Streetwise called again, this time sounding a little disappointed.

First Aid waved back and returned to his work.

Blades sighed and the three climbed a latter onto the roof of the facility.

'Hey First Aid.' greeted Groove

First Aid remained silent.

'We were, uh, we were wondering, since Silverbolt wants everyone to search to conserve time, we were wondering if you would, you know, like to come with us, just like old times.'

'Not interested.'

'Oh come on man.' Streetwise pleaded 'We haven't spoken in like forever, what's the deal?'

'What's the deal?' First Aid slammed his tools against the roof and spun towards the trio

'You know perfectly well what the 'deal' is; that's because you made the deal!'

Groove and Streetwise lowered their heads 'We were only wondering…'

'Did Hotspot tell you it was alright?'

Groove tilted his head 'What?'

'Did he, or did he not, tell you it was alright to come along.'

The three paused and Blades shook his head.

'Exactly, you see he and I actually understand the consequences of me rejoining the team, you guys on the other hand… Which one of you really thought it was a good idea to ask for me to come along?'

'Blades.' Answered Groove spitefully 'He had a friend that was a Wrecker, Whirl I think his name was.'

The copter lowered his head so he wouldn't have to look the medic in the optic.

First Aid lowered his own head and sighed 'Ever since "The incident" I am never to rejoin you guys again, that's what the order was. Though I _still_ find it hard to believe that after all the times I had brought you back from the brink of death, taken enemy gunfire to pull you guys out of danger… _I _was the one voted out.' he shook his head and laughed in spite of them. 'It makes some people forget that we were all responsible.'

With that, the three Protectobots left to join up with Powerglide, Pipes and the others, and the debate had ended.

* * *

_Two Kilometers Away_

Silverbolt and Cosmos flew overhead while Heave, Barrage, Ratchet, Trailbreaker and Brawn drove below, Cosmos hovered ahead of the pack scanning for any possible danger, the majority of the group thought it to be a silly idea but a quick reminder from Perceptor confirmed that being safe was always better than being sorry.

Silverbolt felt a slight discomfort leading the group, he wasn't sure what it was but he would figure that it may have had to do with _who _he was leading. While he knew Ratchet well (anyone who has ever gotten banged up knew Ratchet well), he was not familiar with the others. He had never even spoken to Heave or Barrage before, only overhearing a report about one of their missions being mentioned by Prime once before. The rest he knew, albeit not as well as others, Cosmos was always reserved as he had only met the green flyer in person once during a celebration, Embarrassingly Silverbolt was drunk at the time and yelling louder than Warpath however so he was unsure how the green Autobot thought of him back. He wasn't familiar with Brawn either, only ever hearing him boast between assignments. As for Trailbreaker, the Black Autobot has praised him in the past stating that Silverbolt was an amazing flyer for someone who was afraid of heights. A phrase said to him several times yet has only made him angrier for each time he had heard it. He wished that he could scout with the likes of Hound, Bluestreak or even Ironhide; he could at least drop his hard, tough as nails, air general persona around them and have a laugh.

He would have preferred flying above a better landscape too, the metal of the area they flew over appeared to be eroded as it was covered with what looked like a dark mud. He didn't care much for appearances but he couldn't stop himself from feeling disgust, even if he wasn't technically touching the ground.

Ahead of him, Cosmos blinked to signal the mile checkpoint and Silverbolt called on his comm.

'Perceptor, this is Silverbolt come in.'

The radio buzzed and a different voice came on.

'_This is Scattershot, I read you.'_

'Scattershot?' Silverbolt spoke skeptically 'Where's Perceptor?'

'_He's analyzing some of the metal here; he thinks it might have to do with why this planet has pulled us here. Perceptor thinks it might be magnetism despite the lack of well… magnets.'_

'Yes I get that,' said Silverbolt slowly losing his patience 'I mean why are you on Perceptor's com and not him.'

There was a moment of pause over the line and Scattershot spoke.

'_He put me in charge as a part of the joint leadership while you are gone.'_

Silverbolt wasn't sure what caused it, whether it was from the crash or something else entirely, but he could have sworn he felt something churn within his systems. It felt like a fire burning within his stomach that would not stop, its smoke rising through his cockpit and into his skull as he flew. He didn't know why he was feeling this, but he was simmering with rage, a rage that would last for a long time, he swallowed his fury and continued.

'I wasn't aware joint commanders would need to be replaced.' He spoke calmly

'_Neither did I'_ came Scattershot's response _'But I suppose I can ask him if you want.'_

'Don't bother' The Aerialbot replied snappily 'I would prefer not to bother our "greatest mind." when he's at work'

'_Right'_ Scattorshot said before terminating the link

Silverbolt tried to remove the feeling of hatred within him yet he couldn't manage it, he tried putting himself into his happy place, but no matter how much he tried, no matter how deep he dug though his most precious memories, he just couldn't find what it was. Then a second terrible realization had hit him. It wasn't his happy place that was gone, it was Jetfire, or his face rather, he could remember Jetfire as he was, as a scientist who acted almost religious around the subject, and as a friend who would look after the weak, but he just couldn't remember what the shape of his faceplate resembled.

He tried to ignore the idea and sent a call to Beachcomber and his team who were scouting in the opposite direction. Soon enough for the second time that day, a different voice came from the communicator.

'Hotspot here, my Protectobots and I have met up with Beachcomber, Strafe and the rest and have taken command'

'I hear you Hotspot, just wanted to check your progress.'

'Things are going good here, we're slowly approaching the checkpoint however Blades' refusal to transform and Pipes' constant pit stops to pick up a piece of junk are slowing us down.'

'Understood, be sure to get there soon, we'll be stopping in a sec so we'll set up the first scan.'

'Alright, affir-'

The signal cut off before Hotspot could finish.

Strange, Silverbolt thought, he decided to take a note to remind Hubcap to fix the coms and spoke to the group.

'Alright, everyone, we stop here for the first scan, we'll break for a few minutes and if we can't find anything, we'll move on to the next.'

The Autobots all transformed and stopped except for Cosmos who contently floated above them activating his scanners.

The rest pulled up a piece of scrap metal and sat down.

'So guys.' began Trailbreaker 'How long do you think it'll take until we are saved?'

'Saved?' asked Ratchet 'You really think we're going to be saved?'

Trailbreaker twiddled his thumbs 'Well yeah, I mean Jetfire and the others who escaped from those pods must've to bumped into something by now.'

'Define, "bump into something"' asked Ratchet 'The way one would bump into another bot in the hallway? Or the way we bumped into this planet, the same way Brawn has been crashing through those mounds in his vehicle mode.'

'Ey!' snapped Brawn 'I didn't have to go around it, it was in my way so I went through it.'

'Frankly,' muttered Barrage, 'I'm surprised you don't have brain damage, given how much you've been hitting your head...'

'The hell you say?' Brawn raised his fist at Barrage and scowled 'I don't have any brain damage, I have a perfectly healthy giraffe in my trunk for your information.'

The group went silent for a second but soon disregarded the small burly bot with brain damage

Ratchet spoke up 'So Trailbreaker, what was that you were saying about bumping into something?'

'I was saying that they ought to bump into either the Circle of Light or the Galactic Council by now.'

Ratchet made a tch noise and shook his head

'I hate to say it, but there are two problems with that' Ratchet held up his index finger 'One, the Circle of Light has been treated as a myth for the past century, and two, the Galactic Council has been avoiding us for even longer, when we first went to war with the Novacons not one of them blinked, but when Megatron assassinated the council… well, they've been trying to avoid our violent tendencies'

'Makes sense' added Brawn 'It _is _the most popular opinion that we are the deadliest beings in the galaxy.'

'Ah false'

The group moved their attention to Heave

'There was a vote two years ago, we lost a few places in favor of… well I can't remember what they are called, but they have tentacles, I know that for certain.'

Brawn leapt out of his seat 'Bullscrap, we can take on any sort of underwater critter.'

'Where did you hear that?' asked Trailbreaker

Barrage tilted his head 'You mean you guys don't read the galactic news? Heave and I read it all the time.'

'We've been kind of busy with our tasks, like saving lives' said Ratchet in an annoyance.

Heave rose his hands apologetically 'Right, sorry, we didn't mean it like that.'

'It's fine' came Ratchet's reply 'Personally my workload has shrunken dramatically so I suppose we all have some free time until our deaths.'

Trailbreaker groaned and leaned over towards the surgeon

'There you go on about us dying again, I thought you were a bot of hope Ratchet?'

'Have you ever heard the phrase "Raising your hopes up for nothing?", I wouldn't have been considered such a good doctor if I had told my patience to have hope, how else do you think miracles happen when they do?'

There was a silence and Trailbreaker sighed,

'Alright, fine, I'll admit it, I am not too sure of our the survival of the others, _or _us either'

Ratchet 'Of course, that is what causes miracles'

'I think so too, so me three.' Said Brawn gruffly

'Me four…' muttered Heave

'Me five' shouted Cosmos from above

'Me six' said Barrage trying to fit in with the group

'Me seven' said Silverbolt

'Me Eight'

Barrage sighed 'Either we're all becoming like Huffer, or we have just finally accepted one very important truth, our lives… suck.'

'Touche…' Ratchet muttered as he stared at his feet.

Silence.

'Wait a minute…' Silverbolt stood up.

'What is it?' Ratchet could tell something was wrong by the disturbed look in Silverbolt's optics.

The Aerialbot began counting,

'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…'

'What?' Trailbreaker stood up too 'What are you counting for?'

Silverbolt was frowning, seemingly trying to comprehend something that would otherwise be obvious, 'I'm counting heads Trailbreaker, You, Me, Ratchet, Brawn, Heave, Barrage and Cosmos, that makes seven.'

'Yeah so?' said Brawn crossing his arms

'There was an eighth voice just a minute ago…'

The Autobots all had their gazes fixed on Silverbolt. For a moment, Silverbolt felt an uneasy feeling, it wasn't because he had become the center of attention, no; he had become used to that since becoming the leader of the Aerialbots. He felt uneasy from the way the Autobots were staring at him, as if their minds were somewhere else. It was then Silverbolt noticed that the reason they appeared to be looking at him funny was because they hadn't been looking at him at all, their attention was to a being looming over the Aerialbot.

Silverbolt was hesitant to turn around, but when he did, he found himself face to face with a a tall, scrawny looking mech with wires dangling from his lower jaw, he was taller than Silverbolt, that much was for certain, however his limbs were so thin that it looked as if they could break off at any moment, he was hunched over with his head lowered in order to face the Aerialbot properly.

'Oh now who's this slag lick?' bellowed Brawn as he leapt back onto his feet, ready for a fist fight if it were to come to it

'Hello' spoke the mech in a high, almost synthesized voice 'I am Wreckgar, I am a hero.'

The Autobots nearly all raised a brow in unison

'Um… sure you are' Trailbreaker said as he approached the mech cautiously, readying his force field if need be, 'Is there anything we can help you with, Mr. Hero?'

Wreckgar's jaw bent into what could be possible be seen as a smile under his beard of wires and took a step forward

'You can help by playing with my friends is all'

He stood, turning his head from bot to bot as they gazed back with confused glances.

'What?!' Silverbolt shouted at the hero as the mud around them began to shift and boil.

The Autobots gathered close and readied their weapons, Brawn aimed his pistol at Wreckgar's position, but within the amount of time it took Brawn to blink, the Junkion was nowhere to be seen.

'Everybody, backs together, be ready for anything.'

As Cosmos lowered himself to land, the first shot was taken, a spear gouged through the thin disc-like flier piercing diagonally through his mid-section. Cosmos wailed as he tore through the metal spires and crash landed behind some metallic trees.

From the mud came dozens of beings similar to Wreckgar; then came a dozen more, then thirty, then one-hundred. In mere moments weapons were trained, and the Junkions lunged forward.

* * *

_Catilla, Carnivac, and Snarler_

The trio walked over the rusted and copper scrap in their robot modes; the terrain was muchtoo rough for their beast modes and would otherwise cover their faces in unneeded cuts and scrapes. Snarler spat as Catilla led the group.

'Bloody king my exhaust, can't believe he put you in charge after-'

'-After what I've done?' asked an annoyed Catilla, finishing Snarler's sentence for him. 'Could you at least _try _and act like you aren't just saying that out of spite, I _know_ you guys were trying to fend off Piranacon as well as I was, and the buffoons who were wasting our time and resources burning the villages proved to be useless…'

'Bah' Snarler kicked a piece of scrap resembling a small barrel and crossed his arms like a child. his anger only seemed to grow as they began climbing a steep hill of scrap

Catilla, began to slow down until he found himself standing next to Carnivac.

'But you Carnivac, I'm much more offended by.'

Carnivac kept his toothy grin and paid no attention.

'Back on the Beast Planet, Jungle Planet, whatever, you hit me with a flower while you otherwise would have held a sword.'

Carnivac didn't seem to acknowledge him.

'I know you well enough to be aware that you would have honestly believed that flower could have hurt me, so you tried to hit me with it. That was harsh, Carnivac'

'Ugh!' Snarler groaned, 'Seriously out of all these so called _dramatic _conversations I've heard, this one is the worst, you and I both know how much of an idiot Carnivac is, he was just trying to tickle you with it, why would you even care what he thinks of you?'

Catilla sighed, 'Fair point, I'm just feeling stressed is all.'

'Hah, you're stressed?' Snarler said 'You aren't the one walking with a traitor-'

'SHUT UP!' Shouted Catilla

To Catilla's surprise, as they reached the top of the hill, Snarler had indeed shut his mouth. It wasn't because he was told so, it was because of what he was seeing over the other side of the hill.

As Catilla quickly followed his gaze, only one thought had come to his mind.

_That. Is a really big hole…_

* * *

_Silverbolt_

The battle was far from being one sided, but the Autobots managed, Ratchet, Silverbolt, and Heave provided the long ranged fire while Brawn and Barrage provided the group with their fists and beat down any stragglers that managed to dodge the laser fire. More and more Junkions continued to rise from the mud like zombies from their graves, they lunged forward ripping and wailing like wild beasts, their wired facial hair bellowing as they jumped. Ratchet had noticed that they all bore axes made from the scrap that was littered around the entire world showing how technologically inadequate they truly were. It reminded the surgeon of something Wheeljack had once said 'It's surprising how one can make something out of nothing at times.' It was as if the mud was seemingly infinite as an uncountable amount of Junkions emerged. There were times where the amount of them would be too overwhelming, and Trailbreaker would be forced to activate his force field to push them all back, unfortunately Trailbreaker had begun running low on fuel.

'I'm sorry guys' he wheezed, panting heavily 'I don't know how many times I can pull a force field, I think I'm running low.'

Barrage unsheathed a small Energon axe and tore it across a Junkion's jaw-line 'Yeah, like that hasn't happened before.'

'What?' Trailbreaker fired a missile from his shoulder cannon and looked back 'Come on now, one out of seven bots have performance issues, it isn't that uncommon.'

Trailbreaker looked back to where his missile hit and smiled; a group of Junkions were flung into the air like ragdolls and landed back down with a thud.

'Yeah Barrage, don't be rude' said Heave reloading another clip into his assault rifle.

'Hmm' Ratchet hummed gaining Silverbolt's attention

'What are you thinking doc?'

'I'm thinking they're going easy on us.'

Silverbolt semi transformed his upper arm and fired one of his jet missiles into the endless waves surrounding them.

'What makes you say that?'

'Look at their movements.' Ratchet gestured with his rifle as he shot another Junkion in the head, doing so with as much surgical precision as he would use in any operation.

'They aren't coming at us in full force,' stated the medical officer 'it appears they are attacking around ten at a time when they could very well be tearing us apart with a hundred.'

'So they aren't kicking our afts as badly as they _could _be, big whoop.' Brawn said as he detached from the group and charged into the army of Junkions, tearing apart their scrawny bodies one at a time. As he did so, two Junkions dug their sharp jagged teeth into Brawn's arms causing them to leak.

'That's the thing' Ratchet said grimly 'they're starting to attack us harder each wave, last was twenty, next will be thirty, and so on.'

'So what you mean is-'

'Yes Trailbreaker, within time, we will be devoured by these strange metallic beings.'

'Vector sigma…' muttered Heave

'I _really_ wish either Jetfire or Perceptor were here right now…' whined Barrage 'They'd know what to do.'

Silverbolt could feel it again, the burning feeling within his stomach, and the rage that consumed him fully, he couldn't think properly, he couldn't _feel_ properly, he only learned. A persona that he had acted his entire life but felt the need to _be_ that person now. He could feel as though he knew how certain others felt today. Shockwave, Starscream, Grimlock, even the likes of Thundercracker and Slipstream came to mind. He had come under the knowledge of how the Decepticons had managed to beat them at every turn, and he knew how to counter them back.

Silverbolt gave the order 'Drive.'

'What?' Ratchet asked exasperated

With that, Silverbolt transformed into his Aerial alt form and ascended to the skies. Understanding the order, Ratchet turned to the others

'You all heard him, Autobots, Transform and Roll out!'

Ratchet, Trailbreaker, Heave and Barrage all transformed into their vehicle modes and boosted at at top speed through the hordes of Junkions.

'What about Cosmos and Brawn?' asked Barrage 'They're still back there!'

'I'm sorry.' Said Silverbolt regrettably 'But they'll have to fend for themselves.'

'What?' Ratchet was going to object, but he knew that if he did, he would appear to be a bigger hypocrite than he already thought himself to be, because even if he _did _object to Cosmos and Brawn's abandonment, he would keep driving in the opposite direction just to ensure his own safety.

As they drove away, a large chunk of the Junkion army followed, however a few stragglers remained. Cosmos listened to their footsteps and tried to pull the spear out of his body. It had missed his spark chamber, thank Primus for that, but it had cut off some compatibility with his right arm and left leg which loosely dangled from his body. As the footsteps drew closer, Cosmos managed to roll himself off of a large chunk of scrap and into a ditch where he couldn't be seen. The Junkions moved along without even a glance into the ditch.

Brawn on the other hand took the situation differently. While he had the choice to drive away with the others, the scrawny, yet quick, bodies of the Junkions made the temptation to bust their heads overruled his rational judgement. He took one by the neck and squeezed with his powerful grip until the Junkion's head popped off like that of a doll's. Crushing a small group of them was easy for Brawn, but when more attention was drawn to him, he was surrounded by a unit's worth of bearded freaks. In moments, Brawn was covered from head to toe in Junkions that ripped at his mesh with their teeth.

The other four Autobots drove as Silverbolt flew. The Junkions were fast sprinters but they wouldn't be able to catch them on foot. So they Transformed, half of them transformed into motorcycles while the other half would hop on top of them and ride. Silverbolt could not fathom this logic at first but learned the meaning for it soon after as the Junkion riders threw spears and maces at the Autobots. One managed to catch up to Trailbreaker and dug their axe deep into his side door.

'Aggh!' he screamed

'Trailbreaker.' Called Ratchet 'Hold on, I'll activate my spare repair ray and-'

'For Primus, sake, don't you dare!' commanded Silverbolt 'We need to keep moving no matter what, if we so much as look back, then we could all very well die as well.'

Trailbreaker slowly began to lose his motivation causing him to slow.

'Silverbolt, you seriously don't actually mean- Whoa!'

A wave of pink flames skimmed the top of Trailbreaker's vehicle mode and torched the Junkion attacking him. Scared slagless from his near death, Trailbreaker suddenly gained a huge burst of energy.

'What the scrap was that?' he shouted.

Silverbolt groaned 'You can't be serious.'

The Firecons, Sparkstalker, Flamefeather, and Cindersaur stood on a large pile of scrap metal where they looked down upon the Autobots with terrified looks.

* * *

_The Kidnapper's Ship._

Swoop gripped his thermal rocket cannon as he stood outside the ship with the others. Flywheels seemed nervous holding his Infra-Red laser cannon as while his knees were bent and shaking back and forth. It was almost cringe worthy to see Flywheels wear his fake smile as he tried so hard to look ready for a good fight, in reality both personalities would have soiled themselves were they capable of doing so. Battletrap held his dual barreled missile launcher and balanced on the balls of his feet, he was the one that was truly ready for a brawl. Being within a cryo tube for who knows how long can make a bot restless, and Battletrap was known beforehand as a fairly restless bot when it came to killing. Kickback stood holding his submachine gun seemingly eager for a fight as well.

They stood atop of their ship as it flew mere meters from the Kidnapper's ship. It was large, green, similar in design to the Nemesis, and had a large sealed hole at the bottom in which it's tractor beam would be placed

'They can't see us, can they?' asked Flywheels,

Kickback shook his head 'No, no I don't believe so.'

'Well they'll see us soon enough' exclaimed Swoop, raising his weapon

'Hell yeah!' agreed Battletrap.

'Well then what are we waiting for?' Asked Kickback rhetorically 'a starting gun, Let's do this.'

Battletrap and Swoop both aimed their weapons and fired two missiles simultaneously at the same area of the alien ship. A hole was torn through revealing the inside to have creamy white walls in contrast to its outer armor's dark green.

Kickback pressed a dial on his wrist, and a long metal bar elongated from their own ship and connected to the alien one.

'Everyone board through the ship' ordered Kickback 'this way we won't get sucked back into space the minute we board.'

As they did so, Swoop couldn't help but wonder,

_Why weren't there any alarms?_

* * *

_Onslaught_

The Combaticon Leader had hoped that if he were to lie perfectly still, then his pain would go away. To say the least, it didn't. For once he had little clue what the hell was going on as he didn't know where he was, how long he was here, who brought him here, and why. Then, the memories of Bruticus began to return to him. He was brutally injured by Jetfire, sent floating through space as the Nemesis and the Ark passed through the spacebridge, and was found by this very ship. Things began to get a little more fuzzy afterwards, Onslaught could make out what happened after leaving the ship however, he had been kicked out as Bruticus, sent burning through the atmosphere, and had landed in a crater, then, everything had gone blank again. Bruticus was greeted by Fistfight-the-living-gun and was brought to save Shockwave and his Insecticons. After learning of his stolen T-cogs, Bruticus began feeling the side effects to staying in a combined form for too long; he could hear the constant whispers echoe through his head as they clouded his better judgement. _Stupid, idiot, weakling, do it, don't do it, idiot. _He could have sworn that had he not been kidnapped a second time, he would have activated his flamethrower and roasted the Insecticon's puny bodies until they screeched like dying cicadas.

That's when it hit him, how could he have been so moronic! Only then had Onslaught realized that he was in his own form. He moved his hand over to his lower torso and felt where his T-cog was. The scar where he had it removed had been reopened, stuffed, and closed with his T-cog safely inside. So that's where the pain was coming from, he thought.

He began to wonder. If he was here, then would the others be alive too?

As if on cue, Swindle cleared his throat.

'Hey guys, Onslaught's awake.'

While Onslaught couldn't see what was happening due to the bright white light shining in his face, he could hear the other Combaticons perfectly well.

'You sure?' asked Vortex 'How do you know he hasn't just turned over in his sleep? Cause all I'm hearing is some metal scraping and all I'm seeing is a bright white light.'

'I _am _awake guys' Onslaught confirmed 'Where are we, anybody know?'

'Last thing I remember was being beamed up by that tractor beam.' Said Blast Off 'I remember seeing the Insecticons squirm as they were beamed up too'

Blast Off spit within his faceplate, something Onslaught assumed was unintentional.

'Serves them right' the Combaticon continued 'but us, we need to bust out of this joint.'

'Agreed' said Onslaught 'We'll need to break out of these cuffs and out of this room, any ideas?'

He bit down as he asked; he hated to ask others for their input, but in this case his mind was still numb from the sensation of de-combining and could not think properly

'Well we can't break out of these cuffs by force' said Swindle 'Brawl's been trying to since he awoke.'

Onslaught had now become aware of the low grunting coming from Brawl's corner and turned his head to face that general direction.

'And how has that been going?'

Swindle made a disappointed grunt 'Well he's been awake longer than any of us, so it would appear he hasn't been having too much luck…'

'Bah, I'll get out eventually' Brawl boasted as he continued his struggle.

The sound of a door sliding open reverberated within the room.

'No, no you won't' came a voice

A figure walked into the room, Onslaught was unsure who or what it was but it seemed to have a low, growling voice.

'You will be here as long as we want you to.' Said the voice 'you may be released within a day where we choose to trust you, or we may release you in a trillion years when your bodies crumble and rust where you may live your final days free. Or we may plant a bullet into each of your heads, it makes no difference, we almost always get what we want either way. But the one thing that _won't _happen is you escaping before you are ready.'

It was then Onslaught had realized that his auto-translator was not in effect; this being was speaking Cybertronian, possibly for their sake.

'What do you want from us?' said Onslaught asking the question on behalf of all the Combaticons.

The figure ignored Onslaught's statement as a second one could be heard entering the room.

'What are the results?' the first one asked

'It's incredible really, two of them have a techno-organic structure of that I have never seen, the third one however isn't of much use as it is just another one of the Cybertronian's animals. It is somewhat evolved and holds some mind control prowess, but otherwise he is not what we're looking for.'

'So you think the other two _are_ what we're looking for?' the being sounded hopeful

'Yes, exactly, I want to say it might be too soon to tell, but it truly appears that we have found the first puzzle piece of god!'

There appeared to be a handshake of some sort and a triumphant laugh

'This is amazing news; the Hybrid Master will be very pleased.'

'Ay!' Shouted Vortex 'What are you talking about? Who is this Hybrid Master? And would you mind giving us your grand plan while you're at it?'

'And how are things here?' asked the second being ignoring Vortex completely

'Not as productive as I would hope' admitted the first 'as you know, with the results of our last test being a failure, we will need to hold on to the entire package if we wish to uncover the second puzzle piece.'

'What entire package are you talking about?' asked Swindle 'Don't we get any say in this?'

'Oh.' The first bot seemed to have listened to Swindle 'First, by package, we mean the lot of you, and second. No.'

'Need any help?' asked the second 'I am done with my job'

'Thank you, go over there and sample the one on the far right, I'll start with this one, it won't take long at all.'

'Right.'

Onslaught heard some footsteps, and could sense the alien figure standing above him, the figure smelt alien, organic, yet incredibly familiar at the same time, it was strange.

'Hold still,' said the First figure 'this will only take four minutes at most.'

A strangely small hand touched Onslaught's cheek making him feel somewhat comforted. Then a thin red laser pierced through his visor and into his optic causing him to scream in pain. The only thing that drowned his screams was Swindle and his own, who was no doubt suffering the same treatment.

His optic burned as he could feel tiny nanobots emerged from the laser and enter his newly formed hole, their tiny metal claws scratching against the inner shell of the optic as red optical liquid began to drain from it. Onslaught had gone from unable to see, to becoming completely blind.

'Hey,' said the first figure, 'are you already working on the next one?'

'Yeah.' Called the second 'Turns out this yellow one only had one optic under his visor, must've sold the other.'

Onslaught couldn't hear the next Combaticon screaming like he and Swindle was. It somehow discouraged him as leader that he gave in to the pain quicker than others in his team. Yet he knew for a fact, that unlike the Stunticons who were a mess of a team, his leadership would never be put into question.

'Oh my god.' Said the second being

'What, What is it, is something wrong?'

'No, something is right, something is amazingly right.'

The second being called the other away from Onslaught and gasped

'Is this what I think it is?'

'Yes,' said the other 'this one, holds the fourth piece within him as well as the second!'

'What's his name?' the first asked

'Brawl!'

_Downstairs_

The four bots kept their backs to the wall, peering around corners of empty hallways and carefully advancing.

'I was expecting a little more of a, you know, a fight.' Said Battletrap sounding disappointed

'Yeah' agreed Swoop 'This place is emptier than Shockwave's personality component'

'Heh, nice'

'If this place is empty can we just leave?' asked Flywheels desperately 'I mean, I love looking through empty alien ships and all, but I would preferably _not _be probed in my exhaust.'

Battletrap sighed 'I was just kidding, there probably isn't actually any probing involved.'

* * *

_Upstairs_

'_My aft hurts…'_ thought Swindle

* * *

_Downstairs_

'There probably aren't even any aliens here to begin with, now that I think about it'

Not caring for stealth, the four turned around the next corner to find dozens of large metallic, single eyed spider drones with large Gatling guns bolted to their backs. They appeared to have been constructed rather than born as their movements were truly robotic. As they viewed the four experiments by Shockwave, marking lasers beamed from their optics and aimed for their brain modules.

Battletrap, Swoop, Kickback and Flywheels all raised their weapons in response.

* * *

_Razorclaw's ship_

Stranglehold stood outside the ship, sorting the pieces of intact parts with the pieces that would have been of no use. He began muttering to himself.

'Bloody Razorclaw, putting me on the sidelines, _me_ of all bots, why not Carnivac or Snarler, they were just mere guardsmen, me I'm one of his most deadliest warriors of the Beast Planet!'

'Who're you talking to?'

Stranglehold looked up to see Octopunch standing outside the ship with a large metal box.

'To Unicron himself'

'Wow seriously?'

'Pfft no' Stranglehold let out a powerful laugh and went back to his sorting of parts.

Octopunch laid the box on the ground and crossed his arms.

'I agree with you though, It's been really bloody boring around here.'

'Yeah,' Stranglehold's attention was brought to the metal box

'Hey is that what I think it is?' he asked pointing to the box

'Yup' replied Octopunch 'This is the T.V. I managed to find it on the floor of the break room.'

Concluding that his sorting was pointless, Stranglehold stood up and kicked the parts away.

'Didn't Rampage say it was broken?' he asked

'Heh, that's the thing, I checked it out, turns out it wasn't broken; it was just off.'

Stranglehold crossed his arms and chuckled 'Hah, sometimes I forget how the Predacons aren't always what they turn out to be, say is that wireless?'

'Yep, I already checked, turns out we can get a signal from here, must be a satellite nearby.'

Stranglehold plopped down onto his aft and placed one leg over the other facing the Television.

'Great, put on Galactic Wrestling.'

Octopunch turned on the screen and changed the channel with a dial on top of the box.

_Now ladies, gentlemen and other, we bring you the galactic wrestling tournament, in this corner coming all the way from New Quintexxia, we have our current champion, the Five Faces of Darkness, and in this corner, we have the terrifying, the uncanny, the pretty gross… please welcome, the man with a thousand breasts!_

'Damnit, I've seen this one' said Stranglehold 'The man with a thousand breasts wins by default, Five Faces should have one though, their race is becoming more popular it seems and-'

Stranglehold stopped as he noticed Octopunch wasn't listening to him. He appeared to have been perplexed by something.

'What?'

'Stranglehold, run.'

'What?' he leaped to his feet 'Is it the Autobots? We can take em!'

Octopunch shook his head and pointed, Stranglehold followed the line of his digit and saw what had made the warrior so terrified.

'Primus, RUN!'

As the two bolted into the ship, an entire army of Junkions came rushing in their direction, chasing both the Autobots, and the Firecons as they ran

* * *

_Underground_

Beneath the surface, a small bomb shelter-like room stood as a part of a large underground complex, there Junkions would rise from the mud, and there, six Cybertronians stood. A large orange dump truck transformer looked at the ceiling as what appeared to be dust fell due to the stamping of feet above.

'Feh, looks like they're making quite a racket up there' Groaned Wide Load

'It'll be over soon' said Chase 'we stay here with Nancy until they have gone, you know the rules.'

'Frankly I've stopped giving a damn after a while' a green jeep named Rollbar ranted 'When will Wreckgar finally let us out of this place, it's been forever since he said anything to us.'

'In due time…' said Chase still unsure of himself 'I'm sure he's rather busy.'

'Yeah I bet he's busy too,' Said Freeway 'busy merging sparks with our Junkion mistress, Nancy!'

The group groaned simultaneously in dissatisfaction from the unnerving joke.

Chase sighed and looked into the corner of the room

'Hey, new guy, you've been awful quiet, is everything alright?'

The bot nodded.

* * *

_Above_

'Everything, is _not _alright!' Shrieked Cindersaur

'Yah think?' retorted Sparkstalker

'Both of you shut up or I'll shut you up for you!' shouted Brawn as he drove beside them

'You're lucky these Junk heaps are out to get both of us or else I would have scrapped you by now.'

As they continued driving, flying, and sprinting for their lives, Silverbolt addressed the group.

'Everyone, there is a crashed ship up ahead, we may be able to hide there and activate its defences.'

'Yeah, no dice' said Sparkstalker 'that's the ship _we_ landed in, its weaponry is offline last I checked'

'Then we'll use it to hide in for now, otherwise we'll run out of Energon, does everyone understand?'

They all cried a "Yes" in unison. As they reached the ship, they all transformed into their robot modes and went into a spring, all but Barrage who had tripped and fallen.

Heave soon realized what was happening and spun around

'Barrage!' he screamed

Barrage was lying on his back as a Junkion loomed over him, its mech fluid dripped from its beard like saliva.

'No!' Barrage shouted and reached for a large metal box right next to him. He flung the T.V. at the Junkion and watched as it bounced off the mech's chest and onto the ground.

Barrage shut his optics and braced himself, but nothing happened. When he opened them, he found that the Junkion looming above him was now sitting cross legged on the ground.

He was watching the T.V.

* * *

_20 minutes later_

_And the winner is, the man with a thousand breasts!_

The one hundred Junkion's cheered simultaneously as they all sat watching the television

The Autobots and Firecons watched from the sidelines

'Worst. anticlimax. ever.' Said Sparkstalker

'Oh c'mon sparks.' Said Cindersaur 'This is nice, we don't have to waste our time fighting these idiots for once.'

Flamefeather perked his head up 'No fight?'

Sparkstalker shook his head and Flamefeather lowered his own.

'Me wanted to fight…'

'Bah at least the Autobots are happy' said Sparkstalker

Brawn and Trailbreaker sat next to each other where Brawn showed off his bruises while Trailbreaker praised him for his fighting ability, Silverbolt and Ratchet seemed to have been talking about checking to see if Cosmos was still alive. Heave and Barrage were in the corner speaking to one another.

Barrage was standing up straight and pretended to brush dust off of his shoulder

'Yeah, the T.V. thing? Totally planned, I was all like, oh yeah, Junkions totally love T.V. so I threw the T.V at that one… yeah, nothing but skill.'

'Really now…' said Heave. 'Because to me it would have seemed that you were about to leak yourself.'

'What?!' stammered Barrage 'N-no, it was all a plan! You know… for the Junkion to put his guard down!'

'Hey is that some oil I see over by the TV?'

'Shut up now Heave.'

Heave chuckled and put an arm around his partner

'I'm kidding; you know you did a good job.'

Silverbolt, Ratchet and Trailbreaker approached the Firecons as they sulked

'Hey' said Sparkstalker 'Thanks for uh… not killing us, things have been hard enough dealing with dumb and dumber over here.'

Silverbolt nodded wearing a fake smile 'I see, well then in return would you mind telling us how many there are of you and what you are doing here?'

The Firecons looked to one another and back to Silverbolt

'We… uh… I…'

'That's what I thought.' Silverbolt nodded to Ratchet and Trailbreaker, who both seemed a little unhappy with what he was asking from them.

'Are we really doing this?' asked Ratchet

Silverbolt nodded a little more firmly.

With that, Trailbreaker sighed and fired three bullets from his shoulder gun. The bullets stuck to their chests and emitted a high frequency sound causing the three Firecons to fall to their knees in pain. With the swiftness of his hands at his disposal, Ratchet placed a set of stasis cuffs on each of the Firecons.

'Now let me ask you a different question Sparkstalker, which one of you is "dumb" and which is "Dumber?'

Sparkstalker cringed at the vibrations coursing through his chest and leaned towards Flamefeather who was dealing with the pain a lot better.

'Dumber…' he managed

Silverbolt crouched next to the blue Firecon and stared him in the optic. He could tell the kind of bot Flamefeather was, mindless, destructive, stupid, the ideal Decepticon.

'So then, Flamefeather is it? I will only ask once, why are you here?'

Flamefeather scoffed and tried to spit in Silverbolt's face only for the mech fluid to drip down his chin.

'Hah, you think, me never been tortured before? Me am smarter than you think, me no tell you anything either, because me know you an Autobot, and Autobot's too weak to kill prisoners.'

Silverbolt nodded 'Well I _did _say I would only ask once'

Silverbolt's arm transformed into a scatter blaster and aimed it dead center in Flamefeather's head. The Aerialbot felt a great wave of satisfaction as Flamefeathers expression distorted from joy into fear. He fired two shots into the Firecon's face, one that shattered his faceplate and created a gaping hole in his skull, and the second sending his head clean off.

Sparkstalker and Cindersaur screamed simultaneously as they witnessed Flamefeather's head bounce along the bumps of scrap and roll into the side of the broken ship.

'Now let me be a little more clear' said Silverbolt grimly 'I already know why you're here, I just want to be sure on some details, now tell me, what are you-'

He was interrupted by the sound of his communicator vibrating.

'Damnit.'

Ratchet and Trailbreaker secretly let out a sigh of relief as he turned to check who was calling him,

'Hotspot…' he muttered.

He brought the com to his audio receptor and answered

'What do you want Hotspot, I am busy right now with.'

And for the third time that day, another different voice came on rather than what was expected.

'_Hello Silverbolt' _

Most other bots wouldn't have recognized the voice immediately, but Silverbolt did, it was because the voice belonged to the Cybertronian that Silverbolt had dreamt of every night since their first meeting.

'Razorclaw.' He growled

'_Ah so you do remember me, how have you been, old friend?'_

But Silverbolt couldn't answer.

'_Now I have told one of my men, Flamefeather, to call back every hour to ensure nothing has happened to him and his group, it has 30 minutes past. Now I would like to- Oh, how silly of me, you appear to have noticed by now, that I am not Hotspot, that is because I have beaten him and his sorry excuse of a team to the brink of death, he is currently underneath my heel and in a coma -not stasis, you can usually wake whenever you want from stasis- this is when the brain is damaged to the point where it might not be able to be fixed, almost like your friend Sideswipe. The more pathetic ones… Beachcomber… Powerglide… Pipes, they cowered in fear while we tore them apart, I highly doubt they will live but you can certainly try and save them. But I must admit we did our best not to kill any of them, so let's do a trade, three of my men completely unharmed for this squad of yours alive, and they better be truly unharmed, otherwise I will execute these Protectobots one by one, well… then again I'll be doing that anyways, for every hour you don't show up I crush one of their brain modules. Your time starts now.'_

'Silverbolt' said Ratchet 'What did Hotspot want'

Silverbolt turned to the headless body of Flamefeather.

"_Truly unharmed"_

He gripped his rifle.


	30. Number One

**AN:** _Well here we are, I'm really sorry about the wait, I've had exams this past month and had to break from writing mid way. I also had a brief writers block afterwards. Anyways I hope this one is enjoyable, I certainly enjoyed writing it. You could also say this chapter is dedicated to my brother, who has had to put up with me pestering him about reading this, and has read over some of the past chapters and pointed out obvious grammatical mistakes. He's also seemingly lost interest so I doubt he'll be reading this anytime soon. He also likes Razorclaw._

* * *

**Wing's Journal Entry: 009**

'_Wing here, things have been going rather smoothly with the Dark Energon project, they are taking a little longer than I would have expected, but overall it feels like we are making progress at an acceptable rate. A few things to take note though, for one, it would appear that the Dark Energon has a few destructive tendencies. First case of this happening was when my workmate got pretty banged up from trying to break a crystal without any proper equipment. His fault though, as a scientist he should have known to be careful around sensitive materials. Still we are getting closer to concentrating it into a consumable formula. Oh yeah, as always, Drift is against the whole ordeal, he says that Dark Energon is the "Blood of Unicron", silly am I right? Anyways I keep forgetting what the name of the guy who named the stuff is, I always see him around but I've still never spoken to him, strange, I'll be sure to mention him in my next entry.'_

END LOG

* * *

_Autobot Med Bay_

Air Razor wiped the cloth over the oil stained slab in wide circles. She had managed to finish cleaning the metal beds on the far left side of the facility and had already started on the right, it wasn't that she enjoyed doing so; it was simply because there wasn't much else for her to do on a planet made entirely of junk.

Fixit had been assisting her in scrubbing the slabs but soon stopped upon realizing, that her cleaning was twice the speed of his.

'Wow Air Razor, you're pretty good at this' Fixit praised 'What's your secret?'

Air Razor wore half a smile, unsure of whether to feel proud for the complement or not.

'There's no secret really, I just got the hang of it after working for Backstop for so long'

Fixit held his laser scalpel as a cigar as he spoke 'I thought you were a bodyguard for him, you did housework for him too?'

Air razor grinned over the nostalgia 'Yeah, Brimstone and I were sworn to serve Backstop in any way we could, and that included housework.'

Fixit grinned slyly 'Even…?'

'No, don't be weird, really if you think this is good, you should see Brimstone's work, he can take metal slabs like this and make them sparkle as much as the Matrix Crystal.'

She faced away from the medic and stopped scrubbing

'Well, he _could _clean things very well.'

'I'm sorry.' Fixit said immediately 'I understand Razorclaw wasn't very merciful during his rule on the Jungle Planet.'

Air Razor nodded 'Its fine, I've moved on, and besides, I think I've found-'

'PERCEPTOR!'

Silverbolt roared as he marched into the med bay. Trailbreaker, Heave, Barrage, Brawn and Ratchet trailed behind him cradling the stasis locked Cosmos.

Silverbolt looked horrible, it as if he hadn't slept in weeks. His optics flickered from blue to white as he paced around the room like a zombie. The amount of crusted oil on his frame didn't help with his appearance in the least.

'PERCEPTOR!' He shrieked again

Air Razor hurdled over the slab and found herself walking adjacent to Silverbolt

'What's the situation?' she asked coolly and professionally

Silverbolt wanted to answer, but he couldn't properly hear her over the voice speaking within his head.

'_You should thank Divebomb when you see him; he managed to make it so that I could connect to your inner radio and keep myself on. This way I can talk to you while you get here'_

Silverbolt was soon found by Scattorshot, aware of the commotion being caused.

'Silverbolt, what's going on?'

'We're going to war, gather your team; Razorclaw has a group of Autobots held captive, Strafe included'

Scattorshot immediately transformed his arm into an emp shotgun.

'Alright, who else is coming?'

He turned around and walked as he spoke

'Everyone,'

'Excuse me?'

'Everyone, we're bringing every Autobot who has ever been in a fight.'

Silverbolt turned to Fixit 'Fixit, we've got more wounded than Ratchet can handle and we'll need someone to help transport them. First Aid will stay here as we'll need at least one medic to stay behind to take care of us if both of you fall.'

First Aid approached the two as more and more Autobots began to gather.

'Wait, who do they have captive?'

'Beachcomber, Powerglide, Pipes, Strafe, Hotspot, Groove, Bl-'

'Take me instead!' First Aid spluttered as he motioned his hand towards his chest. 'I can carry more than Fixit, and do a hell of a lot more to help them as well.' He turned his head to the side 'And besides, they've got my old team… surely you understand that this is a family matter for me.'

'I understand, be sure to be armed, I can guarantee this will be more than just a simple trading of prisoners.'

'_Did I mention how I am even talking to you right now?'_ Razorclaw quizzed over the intercom _'You see Hotspot only spoke via internal communications, so you might be wondering, "How is he using Hotspot's intercom to speak with me?" Well my dear Silverbolt, it is much less of a head scratcher than you would think, you see, I dug my claws deep enough into his cranium, and ripped that little piece of equipment right out of his head, You should have been there to watch as his circuits fell from out of his helm, of course when have you ever been there for anyone besides yourself?'_

'Shut. UP!'

The Autobots scurrying around stopped what they were doing and brought their attention to Silverbolt. The Aerialbot shook his head and turned to Ratchet who was repairing Brawn's arm with a blow torch.

'Doc, the minute you finish repairing Brawn and Barrage, arm up, Fixit will have to handle Cosmos while we're out.'

'Of course' Ratchet said as he moved on to repairing Barrage. Heave stood close by and watched as his partner was repaired.

Silverbolt grabbed a couple of path blasters and shoved them into the arms of Gears and Huffer

'Here, you are, get ready for the fight of your lives boys.'

Gears sighed 'And here was me thinking you all knew I had plans tonight.'

Huffer merely cursed

Air Razor continued to follow Silverbolt demanding answers

'Silverbolt, what is going on, how did this happen?'

His strut quickened as Perceptor entered the med bay, about as shocked as the rest of the group.

'What is the meaning of this, what is-'

Silverbolt jabbed a finger at the scientist 'Don't start with me right now Perceptor, grab your team, we're rolling out'

'But-'

'Right._ NOW!'_

As Perceptor jogged off to find Crosshairs and Pointblank, Air Razor grabbed Silverbolt by the shoulder, she held a firm, cold expression.

'Silverbolt, calm down, I need you to tell me what happened out there.'

As she turned Silverbolt around to face her, the Aerialbot grabbed her by the shoulders sending a chill down her spinal strut. His optics were sparking and he trembled as if he had seen the ghost of the Fallen.

'I've made a terrible mistake Air Razor; I've made a terrible mistake…'

* * *

_The Kidnapper's ship _

The drones were fast, and powerful, their spider-like design allowed them to walk on the walls and open fire from a number of angles, their fire power was also formidable as their Gatling guns could've torn apart an armored tank from a mile away. The perfect war machines to be used against an organic race. The manufacturers mustn't have considered the possibility of fighting four experimental Cybertronians however.

Kickback leaped at each drone in grasshopper mode and tore them apart with his razor sharp mandibles. Within a matter of seconds, he had shut down nine drones simply by tearing out their central wiring on the napes of their necks.

'Ninety points' he muttered

'Not bad Kickback.' said Swoop 'but check this out!'

The Dinobot soared towards a drone in his Pteradon mode and activated his thrusters. He skewered the drone with his beak and opened his jaw tearing it in half; he then did a barrel roll and decapitated the heads of two drones with his thin metal wings alone.

'Hah! Thirty points.' Swoop announced

'You think that's impressive?' called Battletrap 'Watch me!'

The Duocon leaped into the air and unsheathed two blades; he landed on a drone and dug the blades into either arm, pinning it to the ground. He grabbed the Gatling gun bolted to the drone's back and used it to mow down a group of seven other drones.

'Seventy points.' Announced Battletrap with a smug grin

Swoop flew backwards and fired a missile at the drone shutting off the gatling gun

'Hey, spoilsport, you took my kills!' yelled an angered Battletrap

Swoop chuckled and proceeded to tear apart another group of drones.

Flywheels was cornered by a group of four, the others hadn't seemed to notice (or care) at the moment so he would have to think for himself.

'C'mon, what do we do?' he asked his other half 'We transform you dolt, what you think all those experiments Shockwave administered were for? Oh right.'

Flywheels transformed, splitting at the center, his upper body transformed into a large red fighter jet while his lower half morphed into a brown treaded tank with a large riot cannon positioned on top. While the more cowardly half hovered as a jet and fired a barrage of missiles at incoming attackers, The lower religious half rolled over any drones stupid enough not to back up to fire at a longer range, crushing them beneath his treads.

'Damn…' Still staring at Flywheels, Battletrap fired from his dual barreled missile launcher destroying two drones at once 'Flywheels can fight.'

Swoop transformed into his robot mode and sliced a drone in half with his Energon blade.

'Say Battletrap' he said as he leapt back to gain some distance 'You can do that too right, why don't you split in half?'

Battletrap lowered his guard for a moment 'That… is a long story.'

As Kickback kicked his legs through a drone's chest, he made a strange groaning noise

'What's up Kickback?' called Battletrap from afar.

'These things aren't living' complained the Insecticon 'How am I supposed to enjoy this if these things aren't dying at all? I might as well just reset the point count back to zero'

Swoop and Battletrap groaned simultaneously.

In a moment, all the drones stood still, their mechanical mandibles writhing as if in thought. Then, the drones began to gather, they climbed over each other and slowly transformed. Within a few moments, the spider drones had merged into a large humanoid robot, still mindless, yet much more of a threat.

The four Cybertronians looked up at the Bruticus sized gestalt with gaping mouths

'On second thought' said Kickback nervously 'maybe I should _raise_ the point count after all.'

* * *

_Upstairs_

Vortex turned his head to the side and pressed his audio receptor against his metal slab. He was certain of it, there was gunfire coming from below.

'Hah, I knew it, we really are getting saved.'

'No you're not' said the First Being matter-of-factly

'Well geez' groaned Swindle 'Why _don't _you be more of a negative nancy while you're at it… if I could see your face I bet you would look like that really negative Autobot I once sold parts to… what was his name…'

'Gears?' asked Blast-Off

'No the other one…'

'Silverbolt?'

'Chuffer!' I think that was the one.

'Cute' the being said, it appeared he was occupied as the sound of digits clacking against the buttons of a keyboard could be heard 'I don't think you understand the concept of a body's circulatory system.'

The Combaticons fell silent

'You see every day particles and bacteria run through your veins, thousands of tiny microscopic beings of impurity that tarnish anything that makes you… clean. However we never notice these things because the body manages to heal and repair itself before they do any real damage. This is absolutely no different'

The being appeared to have turned around

'Well, not entirely different; see we technically welcome a couple of these bacteria as guests.'

* * *

_Junk – Catilla_

Catilla loomed over the hole; just enough so that he could peer into the empty darkness yet not too much to tempt Snarler to kick him in. The hole stretched past the horizon and made Catilla feel as though he were standing at the edge of the world; his curiosity was at its peak.

'We should go in.' said Catilla 'This could be a huge discovery; it may explain why the world dragged us here.'

Snarler frowned 'No' he spoke sourly

Catilla spun around to face Snarler 'What?'

'I said no, uh, uh, no way.'

'Why, not?'

Snarler crossed his arms in a fussy manner 'Because it's my hole.'

Catilla brought and index finger to the side of his helm and sighed in an annoyed tone.

'It's yours… how?!'

'I found it first' he replied snobbishly 'Therefor I claim it to be mine.'

'You can't just claim a hole in the ground to be yours!'

'Why not?'

'You just…' Catilla shook his head trying to form the words 'Can't!'

'Of course I can, I just did' He pointed to the whole 'That's mine.' He then folded his arms again and beamed proudly as if he had just won a battle 'See, it's as simple as that.'

Catilla sighed 'Fine, then can we please check inside your hole? There could be something in there that could help us get off the planet'

'No.'

'Okay, so why not?'

'Because I don't want you to.'

Catilla rubbed the arch of his nose and groaned

'Let me in your hole'

'No!'

* * *

_Razorclaw_

Razorclaw stood with an Autobot under his foot and an oil stained intercom between his fingers. The small, chocolate coloured, box was no longer within Hotspot's dome as it was connected by a thick tube to the comatose Autobot's head. It had then and just then stopped transmitting Razorclaw's voice into Silverbolt's mind. He raised the corner of his mouth and tossed the wired intercom aside. He didn't know whether it had shut off because it had run out of power or if Hotspot had died just then and there, but then he realized, he didn't care.

He tapped the side of his helm and turned on his own intercom, he figured that –as much as he hated to admit it- it would probably be best to call in Catilla. Just as a safety measure. As he dialed the contact number he had recalled sending Catilla in the exact opposite direction so that his minion wouldn't have a chance at stabbing him in the back as Slipstream had so outwardly implied would happen.

As the com automatically answered, Razorclaw spoke

'Catilla, the Autobots will be here any minute, I need you to-'

'_No, don't go in my hole' _came Snarler's voice

'_I'm going inside your hole, Snarler,' _said Catilla, _'and Carnivac will join me'_

'_No! I will not let you violate something I own!' _

'_Dammit Snarler, I can see you trembling, I know you want to do it too, your mouth is saying no but your body is saying ye-'_

Razorclaw shut off the com

'What did they say?' asked Divebomb standing above a wingless Powerglide

'... I don't want to talk about it' was Razorclaw's response 'Do you know if our message reached the Nemesis?'

'Not entirely sure to be honest' said Divebomb 'We haven't been getting a response'

'It'll have to wait' said Razorclaw as he pointed ahead 'The Autobots have decided to show up.'

Rampage and Tantrum snickered as they readied their guns. Silverbolt flew at the front while a large group of Autobots followed.

He felt a massive wave of dread swallow him as the gore grew closer.

The Autobots that Razorclaw had beaten down were all scattered across the bronze ground. Razorclaw said he hadn't killed any of them yet, but if Silverbolt hadn't known better, he'd have thought they had all been killed and left to rot. Powerglide lied sideways and with his entire back torn and grated until his spinal strut was visible, Strafe suffered a similar treatment with his wings torn as well, however his head was either covered by a large mound of metal, or had been removed. Silverbolt didn't want to find out. Pipes was lying face down with his collection of metal shards stabbed into his back while Beachcomber laid with his visor shattered, and with his left arm and leg both torn off. Blades was still in helicopter mode, crashed into another metal mound while his rotors were jammed like swords into Streetwise' chest. Groove and Hotspot appeared to have it the worst, as Groove was shoved into a metal spike that came into his back and out his chest. Hotspot was beneath Razorclaw's boot with a large gaping hole in his cranium where his brain module was exposed. Standing with Silverbolt were Perceptor and Scattershot, while behind them were Ratchet, Trailbreaker, First Aid, Brawn, Huffer, Gears Air Razor, Heave, Barrage and the other three Technobots all bearing weapons.

'Welcome Autobots' Razorclaw greeted them with a bow 'As you can see, I have lived up to my side of the bargain, now then…' He rubbed his hands together and gazed over the heads of the Autobots 'Would you happen to be in possession of my men now?'

Silverbolt raised his hand 'Ratchet c'mere'

Ratchet drove next to him in ambulance mode forcing Air Razor and Scattorshot to step aside to make room. Ratchet flipped open his trunk and the heads of Cindersaur and Sparkstalker rolled out onto the jagged plain.

Tantrum took a step back in disgust 'By Primus'

'Don't worry Razorclaw' assured Silverbolt 'I made sure they're alive, you see my buddy Perceptor here' He said motioning to the scientist with his thumb 'He tells me that a Cybertronian can survive a short while as only a head before it needs nourishment from the spark. And that's exactly how these two are.'

Razorclaw shook his head and made a 'tch' noise with his mouth

'You must have misheard me when I said that I wanted them completely unharmed, Boy. which begs me to wonder, where might Flamefeather be?'

'Oh him' Silverbolt smirked 'We left his head at your base with the bodies of these two, if you want to save your Firecons, then you better head back to your ship fast.'

Razorclaw had appeared to have thought about it for the briefest of moments

'How about, no, they're expendable, I would prefer to be honest over being merciful, now then let's skip to what we both have been waiting for'

Razorclaw unsheathed his great sword and pointed it at Silverbolt.

'The continuation of our duel on the Beast Planet of course'

Silverbolt unsheathed his own Energon blade from his wrist

'I was thinking the exact same thing'

Both bots took a number of steps forward to fight as either side spectated.

'Psst, Heave' whispered Barrage as he nudged his partner 'I don't get it, are we just going to watch while these two fight it out?'

'Seems like it, those Predacons aren't doing much either If you hadn't noticed'

'Ah, this probably would have made more sense if I was there to see their… you know… fight.'

Gears leaned towards them 'Shut up will you, let Silverbolt do his thing, and then be ready to fire when he gives the signal'

'What signal?' asked Barrage

'You'll know when you see it' said Trailbreaker

The minute the two titans were within each other's reach, their swords had clashed. The sound of metal grinding against metal had fazed everyone within earshot as sparks flew in every direction.

'Yes!' exclaimed Razorclaw 'This is the swordplay I remember!'

'Shut the hell up' snapped Silverbolt

Razorclaw tilted his head as their blades clashed a second time

'What's wrong?' Razorclaw asked in a false soothing tone 'Afraid I'll tear you in half again?'

Silverbolt spun around and managed to deal a hit on Razorclaw's lower abdomen causing him to hack a cough as the spectating Predacons looked away from the sight in disgust.

'You think I'm afraid?' Silverbolt began swinging his blade violently forcing Razorclaw to take a defensive position. 'I've been praying for this moment to come since the day you ordered the Firecons to torch that poor civilian.'

Razorclaw managed to strike back prompting Silverbolt to duck, he struck again and the battle was plunged back into a stalemate

'It seems like you haven't learned your lesson, boy.'

'Oh you certainly did teach me something Razorclaw; you taught me a valuable lesson back on the jungle planet.'

'And what might that be?' Razorclaw asked as he pushed his blade closer 'That Cheaters never prosper? That good always triumphs over evil?'

'None of that' Silverbolt said as he kicked Razorclaw in the gut sending him staggering back

'You taught me that dying honorably is a complete load of shit!'

Silverbolt swung his blade so that it hit against Razorclaw's wrist causing his sword to fly out of his hand.

'And don't call me Boy, I'm older than most-'

Before he could finish, Razorclaw unsheathed three long claws from his wrists and went into a fighting stance.

'-Ah damn I forgot about those'

Razorclaw lunged towards Silverbolt and sliced his claws through Silverbolt's blade sending shards of it falling to the ground.

Silverbolt dropped the handle and flung both arms into the air prompting Razorclaw to laugh

'Really now, you believe that surrendering like this will spare your life?'

'Oh I'm not surrendering…'

Razorclaw frowned upon seeing the smirk across Silverbolt's faceplate, something wasn't right

'I'm just sending the signal'

'Signal?' Razorclaw looked Silverbolt up and down 'What sig-'

In a flash, several sniper rounds had been fired into Razorclaw's chest from afar.

* * *

About a mile away, Sureshot had unloaded a clip

'Huboom, did you guys see that? Five consecutive shots right in his stupid lion faced chest.'

'Yes, we saw that Sureshot' said Crosshairs who was lying prone next to him 'We were the ones who fired four of those five shots'

Pointblank lied next to them 'Six actually'

'Yeah, yeah whatever' came Sureshot's response

Crosshairs gazed into his scope

'Um… guys, I think we should reload quick…'

'What makes you say that?' asked Sureshot

'Well… hell's broken loose for one…'

* * *

What he said was true as both Autobot and Predacon alike had opened fire on one another, While Perceptor had converted to his tank mode to deal the most damage, Huffer, Gears, Barrage and Heave had kept their distance from the main fight, and fired their pulsar guns from behind cover. Scattorshot and Brawn on the other hand had charged forward taking on Headstrong and Tantrum head on while Ratchet, First Aid and Air Razor dragged the wounded to safety behind cover.

'How is he?' asked First Aid motioning to Hotspot

'Not great' answered Ratchet 'He's in comatose and his skull is fractured'

'But can you save hi-'

'Yes, Yes I can.'

First Aid sighed in relief 'Thank Primus'

'Um… guys?' Air Razor dove behind them and fired two shots from her handgun into Tantrum's chest. 'We don't exactly have time to act relieved when there are still wounded out there, so how about we buck up or shut up yeah?'

First Aid turned from Air Razor to Ratchet 'I like her, let's go'

Within the dead man's land, Scattorshot wrestled Headstrong

'I take it you aren't as honorable as your so called leader.'

Headstrong let out a roar, wishing he still had his vocalizer to swear insults at the Autobot.

'What? Cat got your toungue?'

Headstrong tackled him to the ground and dug his horn into Scattershot's chest

'Hnng and they say _I'm _the strong silent type' Scattorshot activated his tank cannon and fired into Headstrong's chassis sending him flying off.

On the other side, Perceptor fired a shot into Rampage sending the tiger Predacon flying back, only for him to get up again and charge forward, unsheathing a blade in the process, Brawn came in from the side and landed a punch across his face.

'See that Perceptor, that's how a real bot fights, not just sitting around in tank mode firing from afar.'

'Brawn, lookout!' Perceptor snapped

Tantrum leaped behind him and raised his sword, as he was about to bring it down and slice the Autobot in two, a sniper bullet shot through his wrist, disconnecting his servo joints.

* * *

'Got 'em…' muttered Pointblank from a mile away.

'Booyah!' Yelled Sureshot 'We are on a roll today'

'I recall most of the hitting shots being from Pointblank and I… i.e not you'

'Shut up Crosshairs, at least I….I… Oh…'

Divebomb had landed in front of the three snipers with a wide grin plastered onto his face.

'Hello Autobots, why don't we play up close for a change…?'

* * *

Behind cover, Huffer and Gears fired upon the charging Headstrong

'C'mon Huffer' spat Gears 'Let's show these young'uns how real bots fight.'

'What's the point' Huffer lamented 'We're going to die here anyways.'

Before gears could retort, Headstrong had rammed himself into them shattering Gears' spinal strut and sending Huffer flying backwards.

'Hey Heave…' said Barrage 'Do you want to…'

'Get the hell out of here?' finished Heave 'Sounds good to me!'

In the center of the battlefield were Silverbolt and Razorclaw, While Silverbolt fired shots from his rifle, Razorclaw deflected them with his claws.

'Why don't I finish this...' Silverbolt sprang into the air and transformed into his Cybertronian jet mode. He hovered in place and fired a barrage of rockets in Razorclaw's direction.

The Predacon immediately sprinted forward, dashing to either side as rockets sent chunks of the ground into the air as they impacted. Razorclaw managed to get a hold of one missile before it hit him and threw it to the side without a care while the last one he jumped straight towards. He leaped over the missile and brought one foot down, using it as a stepping stone to grab hold of Silverbolt's nosecone.

The Aerialbot's first instinct was to activate his jets. He probably should have thought that one through.

As he boosted forward, Razorclaw dug his claws into Silverbolt's cockpit prompting him to grunt in agony. The Aerialbot began to barrel roll sending the world around Razorclaw spinning. There were two things on Silverbolt's mind at that moment. One, to fly Razorclaw as far away from the main battle as possible so he could fight him himself, and two, that he was going to give Razorclaw utter hell.

'What's wrong Razorclaw?' Silverbolt taunted as Razorclaw embraced him for dear life 'Afraid of flying?'

'That's some hard talk for someone who is afraid of flying himself.'

'Well if we're both feeling unpleasant, then why don't we crash for the night?'

Razorclaw frowned 'What? Why would we go to sleep-'

Silverbolt crashed into a metallic forest shaking Razorclaw off and tearing off his Cybertanium claws as they were stuck deep into the Aerialbot's Nosecone. Silverbolt transformed into robot mode and landed firmly on his feet while Razorclaw suffered a more painful crash as a metal branch lodged itself into his back. He chuckled as he yanked the shard of metal out.

'Oh I get it, crash… that's real clever, boy.'

Silverbolt approached the Predacon with rifle in hand. While shots from the main battle could be heard from afar, Silverbolt could tell that they themselves were far enough that it was just the two of them. Just him…

'What's wrong, did I offend you?'

…and that monster

'Oh… I've been offended by you the moment I laid my eyes on you' said Silverbolt

Razorclaw raised his arms as if he were pressuring Silverbolt to shoot. Razorclaw was weaponless, no sword, no claws, no gun, Silverbolt had the upper hand, yet he did not raise his rifle.

Razorclaw yelled in the way a father would to order a son

'So draw, little piggy, or you better watch out for number one!' He shouted obviously referring to himself.

Instead, Silverbolt tossed away the gun and raised his fists

'Who the hell are you to call yourself 'number one?''

* * *

_The Kidnapper's ship_

The gestalt worked almost silently as it drifted through the hallway. The four bots unloaded all they could into the monstrosity as it moved closer to Flywheels' two components.

'Frag this… Frag this…' Whimpered Flywheels as the gestalt raised a leg

'NO-!' a loud crunching sound emerged from Flywheels' tank component as it was crushed beneath the gestalt's foot. The Gestalt then proceeded to slam his fist into the hovering Jet component shoving it into the wall.

'Flywheels!' screamed Battletrap

The gestalt then turned its attention to Kickback who stood idly still. Battletrap and Swoop leaped away as the gestalt raised its foot yet again.

'Kickback!' Swoop called 'What are you doing? Move!'

Kickback shook his head 'No wait… maybe if I stay perfectly still, he will just-'

The gestalt stomped down crushing Kickback as he did Flywheels.

'Awww, no!'

Swoop flew over to Battletrap's position as the gestalt moved closer to the two of them.

'What do we do Battletrap, fight this out?'

The Duocon shook his head and looked Swoop in the optic 'I'm going to try something… unprofessional.'

'I hope when you say unprofessional you mean you are going to do something unethical and not something along the lines of being in a relationship with a co-worker'

'…What? What the hell?!'

Swoop raised both hands in defense 'Sorry, just a bit of lightning strike humour, I tend to say junk like this when I'm freaking the hell out.'

Battletrap sighed 'Whatever, listen, I'm going to transform and awaken my other personality, when he's out, I need you to run… fly as fast as you can.'

The Gestalt took another massive step forward

'So you're asking me to run from a fight… really now.'

Battletrap placed a warm hand on Swoop's shoulder and flashed him a grin 'Listen man, it's been fun, really, it has, but here's where things get messy.'

Battletrap put on a cold expression and moved towards the lumbering being. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, followed by the whirr of his transformation cog, he was ready to do it; he was ready to allow himself to go under the control of his other self, so why couldn't he transform?

'Oh boohoo, why don't you ladies just kiss already?'

Swoop, Battletrap and even the gestalt drone turned to face the source of the voice.

Kickback picked himself out of the crater, his body was dented and broken, and his visor was shattered

'You want to use your ace in the hole Battletrap?' The Insecticon spoke as he brought himself to his feet 'At least wait until you come across a good reason to use it, otherwise you end up using it before our "Darkest Hour" even occurs.'

He rubbed his hands together snickering in excitement 'Me on the other hand? I've got a real treat; can you guess what it is? Here's a hint… our ship doesn't have an autopilot, never did!'

Both bots stood staring at the Insecticon, unsure how to react. The Gestalt had disregarded Kickback and was raising its leg to crush Battletrap as it had Flywheels and Kickback before him.

'But…' Swoop struggled to find the right words 'Then who was flying the ship?'

Kickback turned around, grinned, and spread his arms to either side.

'You better warm up your brain modules kiddies because they are about to go numb' and in a low growling voice that was completely out of character, he spoke the words. 'Let the harvest begin!'

A hole was blown into the side of the ship sending chunks of debris thrown into the drone prompting it to turn its attention away from Battletrap.

From the hole emerged a figure, one Swoop recognized almost immediately

'Sharpshot?!'

The purple Insecticon looked at him with his jaw dropped as if he had undergone a lobotomy. Then, another Sharpshot emerged from the hole, and another, and another. Within moments, over fifty identical duplicates of Sharpshot stood in the room. They all simultaneously identified the mechanical monstrosity that was the gestalt drone and leapt towards it with blinding speed

* * *

_Upstairs_

The first being snorted in laughter, obviously entertained by the situation,

'Um…' Brawl heard the second being speak 'this should be a bad thing, shouldn't it? I mean those Insecticons are totally kicking our white blood drone's ass.'

'It matters not' said the first 'once we extract the second piece of God from this one we won't have to worry about anything bothering us ever again.'

'Mmm' the second being turned to Brawl who's optics had been torn out so that he would be unaware of his location. All the Combaticon knew was that he'd been moved to a different room.

'Hello Brawl' said the second 'Mind if I ask you a question'

'Get fragged' was Brawl's immediate response

'Oh please, it's just a simple one, I could always check myself, but I figure it will be easier on both of us if you just tell me'

'Blow it out your exhaust'

'Um… I don't exactly have any exhaust but… anyways, would you mind telling me what colour your Energon is?'

The Combaticon went silent, something he wasn't commonly known for.

'It should be pink correct? That's the colour most Cybertronians have, but what about you?'

Brawl still didn't answer

'We can always cut you open and check for ourselves if you would like, but as I said, just tell us what colour it is and we can all-'

'Black' Brawl answered shamefully 'My Energon… my blood, is black.'

The second figure turned to the first who grinned in excitement

'Now how did that happen…?'

* * *

_Razorclaw and Silverbolt_

The two warriors fought in one of the simplest ways imaginable, with their bare fists. With every punch, kick and block, their attacks appeared to become more and more fluid until their movements resembled more of a dance then it did a brawl.

Silverbolt landed a punch across Razorclaw's face and tore off a part of his visor revealing his glaring left optic.

'Tell me boy!' said Razorclaw as he performed a round house kick 'How do your comrades feel about your decisions? Did they cheer you on when you decapitated a prisoner?'

'Shut your mouth!'

'Ah of course, you see your men the same way I do, as Megatron does, simply as one powerful weapon to destroy anyone who gets in our way.'

'That's not-'

'Oh but it is, I simply wonder if your weapon will allow you to pull the trigger after all you've put it through.'

Silverbolt tackled Razorclaw to the ground sending both bots tumbling down a hill as they wrestled.

'I'm offending you again aren't I-'

Silverbolt cut him off with another fist to his face.

At the bottom of the hill was a small river of the same kind of mud that they had seen before, before either landed into the thick substance, Silverbolt had activated his jets, allowing Razorclaw to fall into the mud alone. Razorclaw attempted to pull himself out but stopped upon realizing that he was slowly sinking like a lion in quick sand. Within the seconds, the mud was up to the Predacon's waist. The sight was humiliating enough that it almost prompted a laugh from Silverbolt. _Almost._

Silverbolt wrapped his hands around Razorclaw's throat and pushed him deeper into the mud

'Call me a boy again.'

But Razorclaw couldn't speak; he only clawed at Silverbolt's face with his fingers

'CALL ME A BOY AGAIN!'

Silverbolt pushed him in deeper until his entire head was sunken beneath the mud, only his arms thrashed about above the surface as the mud entered every crease and crevice of the Predacons body. They stopped thrashing after a while, and that's when Silverbolt yanked his own arms from the mud.

The Aerialbot looked to Razorclaw's statuesque arms sticking out of the mud and looked to his own which were covered in the strange material as well as Razorclaw's Energon.

'Oh... oh dear Primus.'

He backed away from Razorclaw's lifeless arms.

'That… that was the best moment of my entire life.'

Silverbolt wore a wide smile as he walked away from the scene

* * *

_Octopunch and Stranglehold_

Octopunch walked down the steps of the ship and stood next to Stranglehold who had been watching the Junkions enviously

'They're still watching that thing?'

'Yup'

'You aren't planning on taking it back are you?'

'Nope'

Octopunch shrugged 'Well if you care –which you probably don't- I've got Flamefeather's head back on his shoulders, he won't be up and at 'em again until we have Flatline check him out, but he's alive'

'Whatever.'

Silence

'Well do you want to help me clean things up inside before Razorclaw and the others get back, Just to quench your boredom of course.'

Stranglehold growled 'Fine…'

The two Decepticons retreated into the ship and shut the doors behind them.

Within the recurring moments, the television had shut itself off due to the lack of power.

The Junkions reacted with an earsplitting scream.

* * *

_Silverbolt_

Silverbolt's feelings of good will had gone directly down the drain as he returned to the battlefield. It was a complete disaster. Scattershot, Perceptor, First Aid and Ratchet were all on their knees with guns to their heads while Huffer, Gears, Afterburner, Lightspeed and the rest, were all lying in pieces on the ground. From a mile away, Silverbolt could spot the limbless torsos of Pointblank, Crosshairs and Sureshot lying scattered in the distance. Air Razor was tied to a metallic spear with everything waist down torn off. She stared at him with what could only be described as either a look of boredom, or as a look of disappointment. The four remaining Predacons all stood looking at Silverbolt with triumphant expressions. It was obvious who won.

'He's dead.' Silverbolt hadn't even thought about saying those words, he just did the same way he would say "Ouch" in response to getting hurt. It was just natural

'I killed him.'

The four Predacons stood in silence, all gaping at the figure that stood before them. It was as if the entire universe had stopped up until Divebomb clapped his hands 'Oh good job, mighty thanks.'

Silverbolt did not have the patience 'What?'

'Thank you for killing our leader, no really great fragging job aft-hole'

He turned to the others 'As a reward, we'll grant all your friends slow deaths.'

Silverbolt shut his optics, 'No…' he couldn't move

Headstrong grinned and shoved his sword into Scattorshot's back and out his stomach prompting the Technobot to scream as oil spilled from his mouth. Rampage and Tantrum simultaneously cut the throats of Ratchet and First Aid causing both doctors to fall flat on their faces sending Energon spurting from their necks like geysers.

'You see…' began Divebomb 'There are four apparent ways to kill a Cybertronian. One, destroy the Brain Module, two, destroy the spark, three, separate the spark from the brain module, and four, leak them dry of their Energon, which is said to be the slowest possible way to die.'

He wandered around Perceptor 'You see, for the third, it isn't uncommon for the brain to stay conscious without a spark, given the state of our Firecon friends, but it is impossible to avoid the fact that it won't survive for long.'

Divebomb reached down and tore Perceptor's head from his shoulders. Silverbolt could only whisper a "Damn you" before Divebomb had started juggling the scientists head.

'Hold on…' Rampage pointed at the horizon 'Hey guys check it out!'

A Decepticon ship rose above the hilltop and hovered in the air, it's attached Gatling guns aimed directly at Silverbolt.

'Well I'll be damned' Chuckled Tantrum 'The Decepticons really did receive our message for backup'

Divebomb smiled at Silverbolt 'Well now aren't you in a pickle, your friends are slowly dying before your eyes, you have no weapon on you, and you have a Decepticon ship with a gun trained on you, my recommendation? Suicide. Activate your self-destruct mechanism and be done with it.'

Silverbolt would have, he would have loved to long ago while it was still possible.

'I can't'

'And why not?'

Silverbolt was on his knees now 'Short answer, I made a mistake, long answer, anyone who holds the Novacon codes implanted in their minds by Acroplex have any sort of ability to commit suicide removed, I can't even raise a gun to my head let alone self-destruct.'

Divebomb raised his upper lip 'Nova… what? Eh fine, I'll do it for you.

Silverbolt looked up at the Decepticon ship and smiled

'Do it already.'

Silverbolt was happy, he was happy that he failed, he was happy that he let everyone down, he was happy that there would be no happy ending for him. He was happy it was over, no more war, no more world. He suddenly changed his mind as he raised his peripheral vision up a few centimeters.

'No. Freaking. Way.'

As Divebomb stepped forward, he immediately looked up to see what Silverbolt was referring to. He was looking up at the Decepticon ship that hovered above them.

'What?' asked Divebomb cautiously 'What are you gawking at?'

Tantrum soon noticed it too 'Divebomb, what the hell is that?' he said pointing at the ship

'What do you mean?'

Rampage stepped over Ratchet's body and moved to get a better look.

'There's something on top of the ship, something red'

'More like someone.' Answered Silverbolt

Divebomb looked at the figure on top of the ship and back to Silverbolt 'Who is that, Misifre? He's… sort of Red'

Headstrong immediately recognized the figure and tried to speak, yet only a low crackle emerged from his lips

'What was that Headstrong?' asked Rampage

Headstrong tried to speak again but it was too late, as the Decepticon ship had opened fire on the four Predacons sending them scattering in all directions.

The red figure leaped off of the ship and plummeted to the battlefield; he did a somersault in the air and landed firmly on his feet.

'Divebomb, Headstrong, Tantrum, Rampage.' Silverbolt said addressing each of the Predacons 'I am pleased to introduce you to a longtime friend, and Decepticon ass kicker.'

The red bot cracked his knuckles and wore a toothy grin

'Ironhide!'

The red bot turned around a faced the four awestruck Predacons

'Hey there Silverbolt.' Said the ornery bot as he strutted towards Divebomb 'I take it things haven't been going too great since I left.'

Divebomb raised his rifle and aimed it at the Autobot

'Don't take another step or I'll shoot'

'As for you Decepticons…' Ironhide spoke, disregarding Divebomb entirely 'I don't exactly recognize any of you, but it won't make a difference, because tonight you are going to suffer a living hell.'

Divebomb fired from his rifle and Ironhide ducked to the side, the Autobot transformed into his truck mode and boosted forward, ramming himself into Divebomb, he transformed back into his robot mode and faced the other three Predacons.

'Well then… bring it on Deceptichops!' he cried as he charged forward

They opened fire

It just pissed him off.

Ironhide slammed his fist into Rampage's neck sending him falling back while firing a blast from his arm cannon into Tantrum's chest shattering several techno-organic ribs. Headstrong rammed him in his rhinoceros mode but was soon punched aside before he could leave a dent.

'Impossible!' spat Divebomb 'How could you possibly possess a Decepticon ship, a spacecraft such as that can only be activated by another Decepticon!'

'He got a little help from me.'

Divebomb turned around to see a familiar face

'You!'

Jetfire kicked Divebomb in the face sending him flying away from Silverbolt

'That's right Divebomb.'

Silverbolt brought himself to his feet and reached forward, touching Jetfire's shoulder, just to see if he was real.

'This… this isn't a dream… is it?'

Jetfire flashed him a grin 'Nope, I'm… I'm all here.'

Jetfire caught Silverbolt eyeing his Decepticon symbol and covered it

'It's a long story…'

One last fist to Rampage's face prompted the Predacon to transform into his tiger mode

'Retreat!'

The four Predacons all transformed into their bestial modes and sprinted away, Divebomb would swoop down and pick up the heads of Cindersaur and Sparkstalker in his talons leaving no trace behind besides the gore that ensued.

Ironhide wandered over to Perceptor's body and picked up his head

'Hey, Perceptor, you alive?'

Perceptor sighed

'Just… just reconnect my head with my body already'

Ironhide chuckled 'Alright, alright, can't say I haven't wanted to see you like this since our last meet up.'

'Please hurry… the embarrassment is rather excruciating'

Ironhide placed the scientists head over his neck allowing it to connect

'Yeah…yeah.'

Ironhide then jogged over to Ratchet and knelt beside him. He covered his neck wound to seal the leak and stop the bleeding.

'Hey… Doc, you can hear me right?'

Ratchet responded with a nod

'You're okay; we'll need to move y'all into the ship Jetfire jacked and get you all fixed up, before you leak out.'

Ratchet tried to croak a "Thank you" but couldn't manage it from all the Energon clogged in his throat.

The medical officer raised his head and frowned, in the distance he could spot someone watching them. Someone familiar.

'Bbblebeleele'

'What was that?' asked Ironhide

But Ratchet had fallen into stasis lock before he could speak

_Bumblebee_

* * *

_Not far away…_

A figure grabbed Razorclaw's hand and pulled. In moments the Predacon was yanked from the sinking mud and had landed onto the metallic land on all fours. He was immediately plunged into a coughing fit as he transformed into his lion mode and back to relinquish any mud within his joints.

'Easy' said the figure that had pulled him out 'You alright buddy?'

Razorclaw looked up and sighed in relief when he saw that the figure was a Decepticon

'Thank you friend' he spoke standing up 'Might I have your name?'

'Blitzwing' said the triple changer 'My master told me you'd be around here somewhere.'

'And who might your master be?' The Predacon asked

Blitzwing answered Razorclaw's question by simply stepping to the side as a one eyed purple Decepticon walked into view

'Shockwave…!'

'Greetings Razorclaw, we have work to do.'

* * *

_Note: Nobody is fully dead... yet._


	31. Family

**I don't think any other chapter has as fitting a title such as this one.**

* * *

**Wings Journal: Entry 010**

'_Wing here… I uh… I have some bad news, I guess… Guardian Prime confiscated all our progress on the Dark Energon project. I won't lie, I'm kind of pissed; I thought we actually had something going with that. Made me feel like we had something new to give to the general public… Guardian's put us on a new project and, I kid you not, it'll grind Drift's gears even more than when we worked on the Blood of Unicron. We aren't exactly allowed to talk about the project but I assume that I will be listing it anyways seeing how the others don't exactly give a damn. Oh yeah, I remembered, the bot who found the Dark Energon? His name is Pincher, stupid name right?'_

END LOG

* * *

_6 Hours after the Capture of Megatron, i.e. The Present_

Wheeljack sat himself down on the bench opposite from a familiar bot. He was hunched over with his hands clasped together and his knees shaking side to side like a metronome in fast forward.

'Hey…' Wheeljack spoke 'I know you may be a little… shaken up from the recent events, but would you mind if I ask, what the hell happened'

The bot turned his head away 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'You know damn well what I mean' Wheeljack spoke coldly, something he was not known for. 'For one, Ratchet enters with the most terrified look I've ever seen in my life and you know I was thinking, "Who could have been in such a critical condition that he would act this way? First Aid, Optimus Prime… _You?" _Then oh look, it's Megatron.' Wheeljack shook his head and chuckled before rising to his feet 'Why the hell are we trying to save Megatron?!' Wheeljack roared 'Is Ratchet brain damaged or something?! And what about the others, over half of you are missing in case you haven't noticed, did they all really… die?!'

The bot leaned back and shut his optics, for a moment, Wheeljack would have thought he was about to fall asleep.

'Really, it would make absolutely no sense out of context… and as for the others… dunno, we left them all behind when _he _made his grand gesture, and since they were on planet Juunk, or Junk, however you pronounce it, when it exploded… well… '

Wheeljack shook his head 'But… Perceptor… Silverbolt… I just can't imagine them being gone.'

'Perceptor's probably alive' the bot said 'He was one of the few who left with Ironhide'

Wheeljack sighed 'Jetfire… you need to tell me everything that happened.'

Jetfire shrugged 'I only ended up on the scene after our first real battle against Razorclaw's forces so I can't say what happened beforehand, but around the time I entered, hell had broken, we may not have been aware of it, but we were burning in the inferno.'

* * *

_2 Days ago: Junk_

'So this is how it went' Began Jetfire 'After I found out that the lot of you were still alive, I jacked the first escape shuttle I could find and flew the bloody hell away from the Nemesis, it wasn't long after I was pulled to this planet like you were. Here I ran into Ironhide and Warpath who were dragged here during their search for Prime and well… after some debate we decided to combine our resources and hope for the best.'

'I've been meaning to ask' said Silverbolt 'Where_ is_ Warpath?'

'In stasis, he suffered some major hits on the jungle planet, apparently the Monsterbots ship crashed right on top of them. It's a good thing we got Ratchet to fix them up, because he looked like slag when I saw him.'

Silverbolt, Jetfire, and Perceptor stood in a circle within the Decepticon escape craft. It was moving from their position back to the med bay in order to mend the majority of the group.

'So how has the crew been?' Jetfire asked 'How many of us are still functional?'

'We lost a grand number during the siege of the Ark' stated Perceptor 'But since then all of our combatants are still functional albeit whilst suffering some rather dreadful wounds from our most recent brawl with Razorclaw.'

'Jazz, Cliffjumper, Hound, Bluestreak, Hotshot, Red Alert, Wheeljack, Pincher, The Monsterbots, the other Aerialbots, and Arcee are all missing' added Silverbolt 'We saw them escaping in those other pods, but we haven't received word from them since.'

Jetfire nodded 'I'm sure we'll hear from them soon enough'

'_Attention all passengers' _came Trailbreaker's voice on the head speaker '_We are landing by the Med Bay so be sure to clear some room while the wounded get carted out… so basically everybody'_

As the ship landed, Heave and Barrage began carting the wounded away on stretcher after stretcher, first Hotspot, then Scattorshot, then Strafe eventually the ship was empty minus Ratchet, Silverbolt, Jetfire, Perceptor and Ironhide who smiled as he watched the two bots pant as they moved the wounded.

'I caught those two running away during the fight' Ironhide said while nudging Silverbolt 'Thought I'd teach them a lesson and have them cart everyone out themselves.'

'How dreadful for them' whispered Ratchet, his throat now sealed with a metal plate 'I must be the lucky one to fix all of those bots.'

'Say Ratchet' said Jetfire in a concerned tone 'Are you okay? You leaked a lot of Energon from that sword to the neck, you're sure you can tend to the wounded when… well… when you're one of them?'

'I'll be fine' he croaked as he stepped out of the ship 'I can walk at least, and besides, I've got First Aid and Fixit to help me.'

By the time Ironhide and Silverbolt had followed, Perceptor had noticed something odd about Jetfire's disposition. He stood outside of the ship in contemplation; there was something on his mind, something that really should have been on all of their minds at the time.

'What appears to be troubling you Jetfire?'

The Autobot Leader (regent) had his arms crossed and a curled lip, he turned to Perceptor with an 'are you serious' look and shrugged.

'There is a lot that is worth being troubled by at the moment to be honest, but what's been on my mind is… this planet…' Jetfire raised his arms into the air referring to the world around him 'It's somehow managed to bring us all together, I mean, sure we're missing a few but Ironhide, Razorclaw? It's just bizarre. And not just that, the way it managed to pull us here… it makes no sense what so ever.'

'I've noticed that too' Perceptor said bringing his hand to his chin 'I have had a couple of theories… only one is sound.'

Jetfire raised a brow 'And that would be?'

Perceptor walked out of the ship and waved a hand signalling him to follow.

* * *

Within the hour, nearly all the Autobots were either put back together, or had undergone amputations for when they would require newer bodies. Ratchet and First Aid stood above Air Razor as she lay in stasis; her lower half had been amputated while the remains of her legs were placed on a separate table.

'So is that all?' asked First Aid stepping away from the slab

'Yes.' Ratchet croaked, wiping his hands off with a cloth, 'Everyone else is either up and running, in stasis, or awaiting new body parts'

'Yeah, or comatose' added First Aid

Ratchet shook his head 'No, I don't believe there are any bots still in a coma, since we yanked that piece of scrap metal out of Pipe's neck I think we have all of them covered.'

Ratchet could've guessed what First Aid was about to ask

'Hotspot'

'He's right over there' Ratchet pointed to one of the few Hab-suites within the med bay.

First Aid nodded to the surgeon and made his way over to the Suite, he knocked the door once, and opened it slowly. Hotspot lied on a slab in the middle of the room, a metal plaque covering his cranium. While his faceplate hid it, his optics gave way a look of utmost seriousness.

'First Aid' he motioned the medic to approach him in which he complied

'First Aid…' Hotspot paused and slumped in his slab 'I was told by Groove that you turned your back on us, turned your back on your friends.'

'If you're talking about when they asked me to come along to help search for the Wreckers, then I think it's pretty obvious why I told them to buzz off.'

'That's the thing Aid, I-I know we're still friends inside and I wanted to… I wanted to bring the team back together. Make the five of us one again.'

Behind his faceplate and visor, First Aid wore an expression that looked as if he was going to explode into a raging fit.

'And what changes your mind now? Why is it that you have constantly tried to keep the myself separate from the Protectobots since we…' First Aid immediately stopped and brought a hand to his faceplate

'Go on then' whispered Hotspot 'Say it'

First Aid lowered his head and swallowed. He had always described the event as "the incident" since it had first happened so long ago. He didn't want to say what happened, but as he did he felt as though the entire universe was staring down on him, judging him and shaking their heads as a result.

'…since we destroyed a nation.'

* * *

Ratchet stood in the same spot. He wasn't working as he usually would; he just stood there as if he were lobotomized. Perhaps it was the lack of Energon, or maybe it was the lack of sleep from the non-stop work he had done since they landed. Either way, there was something wrong with him, anyone could tell, _he _could tell.

First Aid shut the door behind him and approached Ratchet, his shoulders were raised, an obvious sign of stress that was taught to him in his days of studying the mind, he failed the quiz, apparently understanding feelings wasn't his specialty.

'What did he say?' Ratchet asked in a quiet, raspy whisper he was forced to speak in do to his throat wound, First Aid's wound wasn't as deep however, as his had almost fully healed minus a cough every once in a while.

'We agreed to disagree' replied First Aid, eager to change the subject, he brought his hand and rubbed his own throat as he stared at Ratchet's wound 'How's your throat?'

'It's fine' he spoke without looking up

First Aid let out a cough 'Ah geez' he began hacking more and entered a coughing fit. He placed his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths to relax his throat followed by a playful huff as he stood up straight.

'See what you did, your voice is so raspy that it makes me want to cough, see, here it comes again.' First Aid began hacking yet again, but stopped as Ratchet made no reaction.

'What's on your mind?' First Aid asked in a calming tone 'Are you sure you're alright?'

Ratchet reached over his slab and grabbed an empty rifle. First Aid immediately grabbed his arm in response.

'Whoa, what do you think you're doing?'

'I saw a ghost'

Most other bots would have thought this to be a joke and laughed, First Aid however was aware of a single fact that said otherwise, Ratchet never joked.

'But… but those don't exist' argued the medic

'That's what the scientists say…'

First Aid looked around the room as if literally looking for words nailed to the walls

'Then… ' First Aid looked to Ratchet with hope in his optics 'Then maybe it was the lack of Energon, yeah that's it, you and I had our throats cut, vital areas holding Energon that leaks gallons by the minute. I know I was light headed at the time, hallucinations are common to those who leak Energon…' he paused 'but you would know that.'

'I would, and I do, but I believe… I _know_ that what I saw wasn't a hallucination.'

First Aid squeezed Ratchet's arm 'Who did you see?'

Ratchet took the briefest of moments to glance at First Aid before turning back to his gun

'I am going First Aid, I have to.'

'You can't!' He snapped 'You are too weak!'

'What are you talking about?' Ratchet spoke as If he were genuinely offended. 'I'm perfectly fine, I can stand can't I?'

First Aid stared at him blankly and removed his hand from Ratchet's arm. The Surgeon immediately fell to the floor stunned.

'What did you do to me?' He asked as loudly as he possibly could

'Nothing' said First Aid 'you passed out after I asked "What's on your mind" I've been holding you up since.'

Ratchet shook his head _Impossible _he thought, there was no way he could've passed out and reawakened like that. If he did it would mean…

He looked around the room, the warm orange glow from the sun setting through the metal glass was gone as the source of light in the room came from the overhead lights, bots were sitting on their slabs preparing to go for a stasis nap.

'You've been out for a while' said First Aid 'If you want my medical opinion, you should get some sleep and wait till tomorrow to talk about it with Jetfire.'

Ratchet cursed before reluctantly shut his optics and went into a stasis nap on the floor

* * *

_Jetfire_

Jetfire and Silverbolt were out for a walk, the sun was about set and they had little else to do.

'I'm telling you Silverbolt, there is something strange about this planet…'

'Gee, I wonder what makes you say that' he spoke sarcastically

Jetfire looked to the stars above, ignoring Silverbolt's quip '… and I have a real terrible feeling that there are things behind this, things that could endanger the lot of us and further, nightmares that will haunt us long after our sparks are extinguished, that will be stuck in the minds of every being in the galaxy for years to come.'

Silverbolt was only half listening, kicking a shard of metal as he walked 'That's pretty specific'

'I think it's pretty devastating to be honest.' Jetfire lowered his head; still reeling from what Perceptor had shown him 'On the bright side… it feels good to be in charge again.'

Jetfire turned to Silverbolt and smiled 'Thanks for leading with Perceptor while I was gone by the way.'

'Thanks for coming back' Silverbolt forced a smile 'It was hell trying to lead.'

Jetfire nodded 'I had that problem too, but now, when I found out that you lot were alive… I think it was then I knew how important you all were to me, now I feel like I'm finally ready.'

A bad taste filtered in Silverbolt's mouth and the Aerialbot spun around

'What's wrong?' Jetfire asked immediately

'I feel a little sick; I'm going to sleep it off.'

Jetfire shrugged and followed 'Very well then…'

Within the entrance to the med bay, Ironhide stood watching as Silverbolt and Jetfire approached him, his arms spread out as if he were to play a piano.

'Wait…'

First Aid approached him from behind

'Hey 'Hide, is everything alright out here?'

Ironhide brought a finger to his mouth and shushed the medic

'Don't you hear that?'

'Hear what?'

Everything was silent for a moment, then, Ironhide cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled

'Silverbolt, Jetfire, take cover, NOW!'

Ironhide immediately dove to the ground

Jetfire and Silverbolt paused

'What?' Jetfire called back

As sudden as ever, what was known as 'the Plucking' started yet again, every being on the planet, from Silverbolt, To Razorclaw, immediately fell to the ground, unable to move, it was as if the gravity on the planet had intensified a hundred-fold. A loud bass sound, so loud that how the Nemesis which was a solar system away did not hear it would have boggled their minds if their minds weren't filled with the sound already. It happened between pauses, as if God himself was blowing into a tuba and pausing to catch a breath. As the Cybertronians on the planet couldn't do a thing about it, it began to rain, not liquid as the organic races (or robotic races for that matter), for it rained the one thing most familiar to them,

Metal.

It rained for one thousand, nine hundred and eighty four seconds before ending. And as it did, newly fallen scrap metal lied across the ground, covering Jetfire and Silverbolt. As it ended, the two bots regained their ability to move and pulled themselves out.

'What the hell was that?!' demanded Silverbolt

'The same thing that attracted us to this god-forsaken world' answered Ironhide

'Which is?' asked First Aid

'Dunno…' Ironhide rubbed his shoulder and looked back to find several Autobots stepping out to see what was happening.

Perceptor stepped outside and pointed his index 'Look there.'

The bots followed the direction and found him pointing at a large pod stuck in a pile of scrap outside the Ark.

'That had not been there before has it?' continued the Scientist

'How very perceptive of you Perceptor' Ironhide jested 'Why don't we take a look inside?'

'Wait' commanded Jetfire 'It's moving'

The Autobots raised their weapons, ready to fight whatever was to emerge. The hatch to the pod flung open and a hideous beast fell out.

'Damnit!' swore the creature 'I expected it to be bad but that was just insane!'

An Aerialbot stepped out after him 'I told you it'd crash hard'

He turned around and looked into the pod 'Bring him out Fireflight, it may be a while since we find he others so let's get coms set up and-'

'Um… Skydive?'

'What is it Repugnus?'

Repugnus pointed at the crowd of Autobots in front of them

'Oh…'

Within moments, Fireflight and Doublecross exited the pod whilst carrying the charred body of Air Raid, and in a few more moments, the Autobots had surrounded them.

'This is a day of reunions!' Exclaimed Trailbreaker

'First Aid' Jetfire called 'Get Air Raid onto a slab and fix him up'

First Aid sighed 'and here was me thinking my work was done for today' he chuckled 'I'm just kidding Jets, I'd be happy to.'

However, the doctor took caution upon carrying Air Raid. He was nowhere near forgetting about when the Aerialbot had pointed a riot cannon to his head.

'Hey' said Repugnus to Ironhide as he stood up 'You're Ironhide right?'

Ironhide nodded, not sure where the Monsterbot was going with this.

'Jetfire told me, to tell you that you were right about something.'

Ironhide frowned 'What?'

Jetfire approached Repugnus from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder, startling the mantis

'Thank you, Repugnus.'

Repugnus looked from Jetfire, to Ironhide, and back again.

'Ah' He then walked off while Ironhide and Jetfire exchanged looks.

As Ironhide laughed heartily and walked off to chat with some old friends, Jetfire was thinking of how the planet truly was bringing them all together. And what Perceptor had shown him.

* * *

_The Predacon's Ship_

Tantrum kicked the T.V box a good twenty yards before charging after it, he stomped it under his foot until the box had caved in on itself and became another addition to the metal world.

The rest of the Predacons felt the same.

'What the Frag're we supposed to do now?' Demanded Rampage as he placed both hands on his dome 'Razorclaw's dead, we have no means of leaving the planet, and the Autobots outnumber us three to one, we're doomed, doomed, doooo-'

'Shut your face Rampage!' Divebomb shrieked 'we need to… we need to stay calm and-and look at the positives.' He turned to Stranglehold and Octopunch who were sitting outside their ship listening to their superiors speak. 'These two let the Junkions get away for one'

Stranglehold rose to his feet 'Whoa now, I told you, those freaks were mindless cannibals, and when they decided to calm down, all they did was sit around and do squat. What point was there to keep them here anyways…?'

'Not to mention how difficult it would be to round them all up' added Octopunch

Divebomb turned his back on them 'I don't care the difficulty, if you kidnapped at least one them maybe we could have questioned them, they could've had a ship that we could- You!'

Catilla, Snarler and Carnivac stood in front of the group as they returned from Snarler's hole, all sharing confused glances.

'What?' Snarler questioned, 'what happened?'

Divebomb pointed a finger as he walked forward 'Razorclaw is dead, that's what happened'

In an instant, Snarler covered his mouth 'Oh for Primus sake-' he made a sound equal to that of a whimpering puppy and spun himself around, searching for something to let out his anger on, failing to do so, he let out a roar.

Catilla sighed, but deep down he knew, he knew this would happen, Slipstream told him it would happen, he just assumed he would be the one twisting the knife. As much as he relished in the fact that the biggest threat to his life was now terminated, he knew that this meant they were in trouble. He turned to Divebomb for support, the Predacon's sharp optics gazed into him as he frowned in a way that showed fear.

'What… why are you… stop that.'

Catilla paused before realizing Divebomb was talking to him, he pointed a digit to his face and raised a brow

'Me, What did I do?'

'You know damn well what you're doing right now!'

Catilla looked to Carnivac for support, who just stood there with his unending grin

'I really don't'

'You're smiling that's what!'

He sighed and brought a hand to his forehead 'I'm not smiling, that's Carnivac who smiles 24/7.'

Divebomb scrunched his nasal ridge in annoyance 'Look in a mirror, how dare you wear that happy grin you little useless grunt.'

Catilla looked down and into the bronze scrap beneath his feet, gazing back up at him in the reflection was himself with a wide grin.

'Sorry!' he chirped as he jolted his head back up. 'It's just a defence mechanism.'

Divebomb made a 'pfft' noise and walked back towards the others, Catilla was unsure whether Divebomb believed him or not, but either way he decided to keep quiet. Then again, Catilla was unsure if _he_ believed himself or not either. Catilla had encountered the problem of smiling when hearing bad news in the past (he liked to blame Carnivac's presence for that), but at that very moment, he was truly unsure of whether his smile was the cause of a defense mechanism or not. Regardless, Catilla remembered Slipstream's words; he was to take charge the moment Razorclaw was out of the picture. He stepped forward, ready to proclaim himself as the new leader, the sound of Jet engines however, stopped him cold.

A duo of purple jets flew above them, one appearing rather standard, the other resembling that of a large cannon with wings, hanging from under the former jet's wings to Catilla's dissatisfaction, was Razorclaw.

The Predacon dropped from the jet and landed firmly on his feet, the two aerial Decepticons then Transformed and landed next to him.

'Razorclaw!' exclaimed Rampage running up for a hug 'You're alive!'

Razorclaw acknowledged him with a quick nod and shoved him away as he moved closer to the group.

'Decepticons, allow me to introduce you all to Shockwave, otherwise known as my University professor way back in the day.'

Shockwave looked to each of them without a sound or a gesture. His Cyclops head moved from person to person, as if it truly was a camera attached to a body.

Shockwave rested his eye on Catilla, what did he want? Catilla thought, was he a mind reader, was he aware of his treasonous thoughts?

'You,' Shockwave addressed Catilla firmly

Catilla froze, he contemplated his chances for survival, if he were to pull a gun right now and kill Razorclaw and Shockwave, would he be able to escape in time? Maybe if he were to beg the Autobots they'd take him in. He pictured it, swinging out his rifle and blowing their heads off, Shockwaves eye exploding out of his skull and sending pink Energon splattering over the other Predacons faces. Only he didn't.

'You were the one who found this "hole" Razorclaw has told me about, correct?'

'Yes…' he answered 'Snarler, Carnivac and I found a large… hole, a few miles away from here, do you have any idea what this dark cavern might be?'

'I have one Hypothesis…' Shockwave turned to enter the ship before hearing the sound of Razorclaw trudging away.

'Where are you going?' he asked spinning around 'We have a much work to do and have little time.'

Razorclaw waved a hand signaling the rest to follow him 'There's something I need to see first… something I need to be sure of or else I will be up all night thinking about it.'

* * *

_Swoop_

Swoop had no fragging clue what the hell was going on. And neither did Battletrap as it appeared.

'Sharpshots… Sharpshots… everywhere'

The army of Insecticons identical to Sharpshot had all leaped towards the gestalt. They lashed out one by one, and in moments, the gestalt was drowned in them by sheer numbers. While some were thrown off by a wave of the gestalt's hand, more of them would take the last one's place and continue gnashing at the metal with their mandibles. After a minute had passed, the Gestalt stopped moving.

A hand patted Swoop on the back prompting him to turn around.

'Aren't they beautiful… beautiful?'

'Sharpshot!' Swoop backed away and reached for his gun, but the Insecticon merely raised his hands in defense.

'You have me mistaken for someone else, Sharpshot is dead.'

'Correct' added Kickback as he approached the two 'This is an Insecticon based off of Sharpshot's original exoskeleton before Grimlock dined on him'

Kickback held his hands behind his back as he spoke 'This one in particular is the "host" to the rest of these, in other words he controls them. I call these drones Shrapnel.'

'Why do you call them that?' asked Battletrap

Kickback nodded to Shrapnel who activated a mental command, in moments every Shrapnel drone on the Gestalt self-destructed, sending –as their namesake suggested- shrapnel in every direction.

Kickback stood proudly, placing both hands on his hips in the process 'That little tid-bit was my idea'

Flywheels transformed in his crater and crawled out 'What..' he murmured 'Just… what?'

'You see…' Kickback continued 'we have already shown how we have managed to create matter from raw materials alone, lately however… we learned how to create life from such.'

They remained quiet, waiting for Kickback to continue

'It is quite similar to the budding process of the past, however in this case it doesn't take another's spark to create two more, in this case… it only takes raw metal.'

'But how?' interjected Swoop 'There has to be a spark used in some way, otherwise these drone are nothing but a pile of worthless metal.'

Kickback shook his head as if to taunt the Dinobot 'Of course a spark is used, mine. During the process, a sample of my spark is extracted and placed into the new shell. Both sparks regenerate to full, and a new being is born, and that's where babies come from kiddies.'

'Think of it' Shrapnel spoke in an aspiring voice 'a way to create an unlimited supply of soldiers… we can conquer the galaxy so swiftly that Megatron will feel like nothing more than a brat with an ego.'

'Not to say that's exactly what he is' added Kickback

'Wait…' interrupted Battletrap, 'you're _against _Megatron?'

Shrapnel frowned 'Don't you see Battletrap? We… the experimentations of Shockwave, are the next step to Transformers God-hood, and not just the Insecticons, you too Battletrap, Swoop and even Flywheels, have been gifted with enhancements that make us far superior than any of the other Cybertronians that litter this Galaxy.' He turned his back to the Duocon 'In other words… Kickback and I are against anyone who isn't family.'

'So the question still…' Kickback said as he turned to Swoop 'will you stay with your family and become a legend? Or go back to your Autobots, who are doing nothing but wallowing in Scrap.'

_Upstairs_

The being smiled as he witnessed the events that just occurred, he turned to the other and whispered

'Send the rest'

* * *

_Ratchet_

It was late; it would've been approaching 5:00 in the morning for our standards. All the Autobots were occupying a slab asleep, all but Ratchet, who was awake after napping for three hours prior. He sat up on his slab and viewed the others. They were all either contently resting on their recharge slab or… less contently resting on the floor. He spotted Heave and Barrage sharing a slab with their backs to one another, both appearing to have been in an argument about who would get the slab and who would get the floor. It reminded Ratchet of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker when they were younger, or at least before Sunstreaker was killed. The Decepticons had apparently used some sort of super weapon on their post that they were left to guard; it completely demolished the mostly abandoned crystal city and killed 200 inhabitants. Sideswipe had never forgiven himself, and had since plunged himself into a life of taunting and bloodlust with the Autobots. Ratchet could remember watching Sideswipe wander the crater, calling Sunstreaker's name, as if he were still there. The pain was devastating, even for Ratchet who had never been fond of either of them as much as the likes of Blades, Hound or Jazz were. He wondered what it would be like today, if Sunstreaker were alive, would Sideswipe be still walking about? Would his brother have talked him out of freeing Soundwave which ultimately led to this mess they were all stuck in? Would the two of them be snuggled on the same slab like the children they were, or would they both be the older, more matured veterans that Sideswipe had been before Soundwave happened. What bothered Ratchet above all was that he would never know, and there would be nothing he would ever be able to do about it.

Ratchet's train of thought was abrupt as he heard someone up and about. He looked around but couldn't see a damn thing without any lights. He activated his headlights and stood up, wandering around the crowded med bay.

'Hello?' he whispered, of course he only _could _whisper due to his throat injury. 'Beachcomber, Powerglide? Is that you?' But there came no response, only the sound of someone rustling through some equipment. Ratchet followed the noise and caught a glimpse of who it was.

A Junkion, he had his body pressed against one of the stasis pods near the back of the med bay. _Impossible, _he thought, the satellites Hubcap and Tailgate had set up should also have alerted them if anyone with a spark wandered in. He tried to shout but all he managed was a light croaking sound, his voice was still far too damaged from having it slit. He wouldn't be able to wake anyone up at this rate, instead he watched as the Junkion opened the pods, _what were in there_ he thought_, _all of the Autobots were out here, so why did he have the strangest feeling that there was someone important in each of these pods.

Then it hit him.

Ratchet sprinted to the Junkion as he opened the pod, Snaptrap fell to the floor, followed by Seawing, then Nautilator, then Overbite…

By the time Ratchet had swung a fist at the Junkion, all the Seacons were lying on the ground and slowly waking up. The Junkion tuned around, scratched its beard, and sent Ratchet flying across the room with a single kick. The Seacons were apparently not what the Junkion was looking for, as he went to the next and opened it up, this time it was Chainclaw, Catilla's supposed "family" followed by a large familiar robot.

The Junkion examined them and shrugged, moving away from the scene.

Ratchet screamed, but no sound came out.

Piranacon screamed, and every Autobot in the med bay was awake.

Piranacon tore apart the ceiling upon combining and stood above the scrambling Autobots. Everything was loud again, and his only instinct was to end the noise, The Combiner let out another ear-splitting scream and the Autobots all opened fire.

'What the frag is THAT doing here?' Roared Repugnus as he unloaded a rocket into Piranacon's eye

'Don't ask me' said Groove as he hid behind a slab for cover 'I wasn't there when-' Groove paused and frowned 'Hey I know you, you're the slag off that placed a scythe through my back'

Repugnus hit Groove across the head knocking him out, he then turned to Barrage who was watching him from his own cover. Repugnus brought a finger to his lips and shushed the Autobot before moving out of cover to fight Piranacon head on.

Barrage turned to Heave, who was firing from his pistol with little effect 'Heave?'

'Get down!' Heave pushed Barrage to the side as Piranacon's fist struck down beside them.

'I can answer that question,' said Perceptor to Repugnus as he too charged forward while Piranacon destroyed the back wall of the med bay.

'We couldn't just leave the Seacons to rust due to a lack of ethnicity as cited in the Autobot code, Wheeljack and I decided to lock them in a stasis pod until we could find proper mental help for them.'

'So you spared their lives over killing them?'

'Yes, quite so'

'That's so…. DUMB!'

Repugnus then transformed into his beast mode and began lashing out on Piranacon's feet with both scythes.

Jetfire, Silverbolt, Skydive, Fireflight and Powerglide all transformed into their jet modes and launched towards Piranacon, making loops and firing from their jet-machineguns as he lunged at them. After a short while, Piranacon took a massive step forward, crashing through the farthest wall and causing the entire med bay to collapse outwards. He was walking away from the battle.

'Where's he goin'?!' Ironhide shouted, but most could already tell by that point.

'My ship!' Jetfire exclaimed he switched to firing missiles at the giant. Piranacon slowly began to fall apart into its separate components as he walked, almost as if he were crumbling before their eyes. The components, led by Snaptrap sprinted for the Decepticon shuttle while firing their built in weapons at the Autobots. They soon entered and locked the ships doors behind them, within five minutes, the shuttle had taken off and flown out of their reaches.

Upon giving up, the Autobots turned to the med bay to go back to their slabs, only to learn that it was nothing but a pile of rubble. Unsure of what to do, most just sat down as First Aid checked up on each of them.

Huffer sat on some gravelly metal next to Trailbreaker and Gears

'This sucks…'

'Well…' Trailbreaker began 'There has to be _something _positive to say about this experience.'

Huffer nodded 'Prime's dead, our only way off the planet was just stolen from us by a bunch of psychotic experiments, and to top it all off, we're homeless.'

Ironhide loomed over the pessimistic bot 'What did you say?'

Huffer looked up at the red mech and raised a brow 'That we're a bunch of robot hobos right now?'

'Robos' interjected Trailbreaker

'Nah, the first thing…' Ironhide lifted Huffer up by his collar 'about Prime being dead.'

Among the ruins of med bay came a scream. Jetfire immediately rushed over to see what the commotion was about.

'What's going on in here?'

Brawn, Sureshot and Streetwise all surrounded a figure huddled on the floor

'Who is- Chainclaw?'

The green and grey beast former was huddled in the corner, holding a shard of scrap metal for a weapon.

'Stay back! Who are you people, who the HELL are all of you?!'

Jetfire kneeled next to the frightened bot and tried his best to hold a soothing tone 'Chainclaw, relax, you're among friends.'

'And I'm supposed to trust someone who I've only just met?'

Then it hit him, one moment Chainclaw was sitting in Backstop's home believing it to be safe, next thing he knows, Snarler and/or Carnivac come busting in, murdering everyone in sight. He hadn't witnessed anything that happened in between.

'Where's Catilla?!' Chainclaw shouted, the familiar name startled Jetfire 'Where's my Brother?!'

'Brother…' Jetfire rose to speak but was interrupted by Air Razor who had remained on her slab due to her amputated lower body.

'Chainclaw, I know you, you know _me, _my name is Air Razor, remember?'

Chainclaw began to breathe slower as he acknowledged her 'Air Razor…'

He looked down to find her lower half missing and began to panic again

'What- what the hell have they done to you?!'

Air Razor looked down to her waist and back, 'This? Don't worry, this wasn't them, this was Razorclaw who did this-'

'RAZORCLAW IS HERE?!' Chainclaw appeared to have been hyperventilating as he tried to turn away from the fact; he then soon became aware of his surroundings, aware that there was scrap as far as the eye could see, filthy scrap… Chainclaw then went into involuntary shutdown.

'What… what was that?' asked Streetwise

'He's a germaphobe'

Sureshot crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side 'Well what does that have to do with how he passed out?'

Air Razor wore a half smile and brought her arms out to either side, motioning to the entire planet.

'Is that a joke?'

Sureshot and Air Razor broke into laughter.

'Alright guys' said Jetfire wearing a smile 'Get Chainclaw onto a slab, as for him' he pointed at another figure lying on the ground 'Is he who I think he is?'

'Sludge…' First Aid answered as he came by to repair Brawn. 'We pulled him out of the Insecticon hives soon after Jazz and Cliffjumper located him there. He's been regenerating in this pod ever since.'

'Shouldn't he have been fully regenerated by now? He's been found for a while now…'

First Aid placed his focus on fixing Brawn's arm with a laser scalpel as he spoke 'The area we pulled him out of was flooded with deadly acid.'

'Oh'

'It melted off his entire exostructure and rendered him as a living skeleton'

'Oh…'

Jetfire heard yet another scream; however this sounded more so like that of a roar of anger than that of a scream in terror. He followed the source of the sound and found Ratchet standing in what was left of the ER.

'Ratchet?'

The medic stepped aside

'They took him…'

Jetfire placed a hand on the surgeons shoulder and shook him

'Who took who?'

'The Junkion…' he spoke loudly, his vocal cords finally fixing themselves; The Junkion took Sideswipe while we were distracted by Piranacon.'

'Listen Ratchet… I'll tell you what, we're going to track that Junkion, and-'

'Jetfire!' Perceptor interrupted him 'The Autobots need to know what our next step is, we lost most of our equipment just now and have an extreme lack of resources'

'Hold on Perceptor, I just need to-'

'Jetfire!' Beachcomber jogged towards him 'It's Ironhide, he's gotten into a fight with Huffer and… Hell it's not even a fight. He is literally beating Huffer to the brink of death with his fists right now!'

'Beachcomber, I'll be out there in a minute let me just-'

'Prime!' called Sureshot 'Chainclaw's woken up again, I think he-'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa, shut up, shut the hell up…'

Sureshot stammered 'But Prime I-'

'SHUT THE HELL UP, ALL OF YOU, OR ELSE I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL SHOVE MY FIST SO FAR UP YOUR AFT'S…!' he jabbed a finger at the Decepticon symbol on his wing and spoke in a low growling voice 'That you'll be more afraid of my face than that of the one I was forced to wear on my wing.' He leaned towards Sureshot 'And never, I mean NEVER, call me Prime again, are we clear soldier?'

Sureshot nodded, stone faced 'clear sir'

'Good'

Jetfire was fuming mad, he didn't care that the others were watching him, he just wanted to quit everything. He was wrong, he was _not _meant to lead after all.

'Jetfire…' came Skydive's voice

'What is it now?'

'He pointed to the large hilltop where Jetfire had parked the Decepticon shuttle, the sun was rising within its direction colouring the sky a light pink, standing atop of the hill however, were the silhouettes of Razorclaw and his minions, all holding weapons.'

'Oh hell'

Perceptor leaned in to Silverbolt, who stood as if he were frozen in time

'I thought you said Razorclaw had… perished by your hand.'

Silverbolt didn't make a sound.

'Skydive' Jetfire said to the jet 'grab Fireflight and Cosmos, we'll drop a payload on them and finish this.'

'No.' spoke Silverbolt as he walked forward 'Let me handle it'

Silverbolt walked away from the wreckage and towards the Predacons that stood atop of the hill. They raised their weapons, but were soon stopped with a wave of Razorclaw's hand. Silverbolt trudged to the top of the hill until he was face to face with Razorclaw, the two beings stood perfectly still, with both of their faces merely inches apart.

'_Stay away from my weapon… or else I'll pull the trigger'_ was all Silverbolt had to say. With that, Razorclaw turned himself around, and walked away from the wrecked med bay with Predacons in tow.

As they did so, Catilla and Chainclaw locked optics from a distance, and then… nothing. Catilla walked away with Razorclaw, and Chainclaw went back into stasis. Silverbolt turned around and faced the shocked Autobots as they looked up at him from the bottom of the hill with mouths wide open; even Ironhide has stopped beating Huffer to watch. Silverbolt stood with a straightened back and both hands clenched, the sun rising behind him.


End file.
